UNDP delivers emergency support to storm- and flood-affected people in the Central Region of Viet Nam

Quang Ngai and Quang Nam, 6-7 November 2020 – The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) handed over household kits, disinfectants, and equipment for storm and flood monitoring and assessment, to people suffering from unprecedented floods in the Central provinces of Viet Nam.

The supplies are a part of UNDP’s emergency assistance of USD 400,000 to storm- and flood-affected people, with focused support to the poor, near poor and women in the five most affected provinces of Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien Hue, Quang Nam, and Quang Ngai. UNDP initial support includes 800 gender-responsive household kits, 30 tons of disinfectant, 5 sets of equipment for floods and storm for real time assessment and monitoring, and repairing 300 damaged houses. UNDP is expecting to leverage another USD 1 million for emergency response and recovery efforts.

Since October 6th, central Viet Nam has been impacted by a series of successive intense storms, cyclones, and record-level floods. More than 230 people have been reported dead or missing. At least 380,000 houses have been flooded, damaged, or destroyed. In the aftermath, tens of thousands of the most vulnerable have been left with nothing but damaged houses, destroyed livelihoods and ruined crops. Without the resources to make repairs or replace their lost household items, many are being forced to depend upon external support. Meanwhile, further storms are expected to make landfall on the central coast in the weeks ahead.

“We express our heartfelt condolences to the Government and people of Viet Nam for the devastating damage and loss of life you have suffered from the ongoing storms and historic flooding. Now more than ever, affected people, especially the poor, near poor, women and girls are in need of safe repaired houses to return home to and vital supplies to cope with losses” said Ms. Caitlin Wiesen, UNDP Resident Representative in Viet Nam.

Many people have lost almost all of their household possessions to the floodwaters, and many others have become homeless. Poor and near-poor people will not have the means to invest in house repairs, reconstruction, or purchasing necessary necessities. They have all been pushed to the tipping point. According to the findings of the three intersectoral Joint Assessment Teams during 21-23 October, of which UNDP led two, the flood levels and storms have been unprecedented in their scope, causing widespread damage to people and property and affecting the lives and livelihoods of over 1.5 million people.

Household kits, including kitchen equipment, blanket and mosquito nets, personal protective equipment and disinfectant are all essential for people to protect their health and gradually get back to work.

While house repairs provide a quick fix for families to return to their homes, UNDP support intends to include specific resilient features, which will help them withstand the impacts of strong typhoons, floods, and climate extreme events to protect people and their household possessions, and these features have already been tested and proven successful through a joint UNDP-Green Climate Fund-Government project on coastal resilience that has been running since 2017.

According to a recent study by UNDP and the Ministry of Construction, there is a large need of support to build 109,211 resilient houses in 28 coastal areas, of which 24,884 are of urgent need to protect people lives and their properties. It is important to replicate and scale up resilient housing models in Viet Nam, especially for the poor and near poor in 28 coastal provinces. This requires concerted efforts by the Government, the private sector, individuals and development partners.

“We believe that the more storm and flood resilient houses are built, the less people will suffer from loss and damages, and with safe homes and protected property the less people will need emergency support in the future. We would like to invite all partners to join with us to build more storm resilient houses to ensure that no one is left behind,” highlighted Ms. Wiesen.

“Following floods and storms, ensuring a rapid assessment of damages and needs is critical in order to move quickly and save lives. In this connection, UNDP is providing essential equipment to five Provincial Disaster Management Authorities  to further improve the assessment and monitoring of flood impacts, including drones and fly-cameras reach areas which are not normally accessible or visible from the ground, and help create risk maps for longer-term risk reduction efforts to avoid needless human suffering,” Ms. Wiesen added.

In Viet Nam, UNDP provides critical support to the Government and the people to strengthen national and subnational policy, the legal and institutional system, preparedness and response measures, and access to risk information and early warning systems. These efforts will strengthen the resilience of Viet Nam and its people and help affected communities to recover more quickly.

This news release was first published by UNDP Viet Nam.