Building a sustainable future for coastal communities in the face of climate change | December 2024

In Viet Nam's beautiful but vulnerable coastal communities, thousands of households are severely impacted by natural disasters, while their livelihoods and lives are often disrupted by the risks posed by extreme weather events and climate change. Despite the challenges, these coastal communities are demonstrating remarkable resilience and hope in the aftermath of adversity. 

The project “Improving resilience of vulnerable coastal communities to climate change in Viet Nam”, launched in 2017, has yielded achievements that have surpassed all expectations. One of the key and impactful accomplishments of the project has been the construction of 4,966 resilient houses, surpassing the initial target of 4,000 houses. The storm and flood resilient house models have provided secure and safe housing for thousands of vulnerable households, specifically for women, children, elderly people and people with disabilities. 

The success of the initiative has not only been demonstrated in the number of completed houses but also in their effectiveness during successive storms that hit Viet Nam in 2020. The models have been adopted by the Vietnamese government and incorporated into national policies, paving the way for further enhancing resilience to storms and floods. Script: Phan Huong Giang, UNDP Viet Nam