The USAID Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) and
Vietnam Red Cross Society jointly held a seminar on March 1 to evaluate
the current situation and propose solutions to reduce the risk of
natural disasters in Thua Thien-Hue central province.
The seminar is part of the project “Increasing Emergency Preparedness
and Resilience of Vulnerable Coastal Communities in Central Vietnam”
funded by OFDA through Save the Children in Vietnam (SCiV). The
project, which lasted from April, 2012 to March this year, focused on 20
communes in three disaster prone districts – Quang Dien, Phu Loc and
Phu Vang in Thua Thien-Hue.
According to Tran Van
Nhan, the director of the project’s steering committee, the province is
affected by floods and storms every year, and that is why it is
important to have solutions to prevent and reduce the risk of natural
disasters.
With the help of the project, localities
in the province have focused on strengthening their capacity to respond
to disasters; improving community preparedness through the
participation of adults and children, enhancing public awareness, and
changing the behaviour of the community.
An action
group was founded and trained to encourage the masses to take part in
different activities, evaluate the vulnerability of each area, and draw a
disaster risk map. An action plan, early warning system and other small
scale preventative solutions were also part of the project.
The first phase of the project was successful, and coordination with
local authorities was good, especially in drawing local people and
students to participate.
However, according to
experts, reducing the risk of disasters should be included in the local
socio-economic development plan. The local authority should improve its
early warning system, cooperate with the education sector and Red Cross
Society at all levels to raise social awareness of the issue.-VNA