PANO - An one-year project to reduce the disaster risks for residents in two Southern provinces of Tien Giang and Dong Thap was launched on May 24th.
The £132,000 project partnered between Save the Children and Prudence Foundation Vietnam aims to increase the emergency preparedness and resilience for 3,500 vulnerable children and 14,000 community members in coastal areas with a high risk of disasters.
Tien Giang and Dong Thap are among forefronts in the Mekong River Delta to be hit by disasters which have been getting worse due to the climate change impacts. Children are particularly vulnerable and more susceptible so more likely to be injured or killed in a disaster. In the most recent floods in the Mekong Region in 2011, children account for over 90% of the total casualties.
“Save the Children believes that while children are vulnerable, they also have the potential to effectively communicate risks and act as agents of change in their communities”, said Save the Children Interim Country Director Doan Anh Tuan.
Through trainings on emergency preparedness, rescues drills and other life saving skills in schools and in the communities, the project is expected to raise awareness of disaster risk reduction (DRR) and the possible impact of climatic hazards on communities and schools in Mekong region, strengthen children and their communities’ capacity and to build a culture of disaster resilience in communities through mitigation measures and risk reduction practices.
“This project is a totally brand new activity of Prudence Foundation Vietnam giving us the opportunity to help and support the people in need not only after but also before any natural disaster”, said Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Prudence Foundation Vietnam, Jack Howell.
Present at the launching ceremony, the British Ambassador Dr. Antony Stokes stressed the important education for community in Vietnam about climate change and emergency preparedness. “I wish the DRR project a great success and hope larger communities in Vietnam can get more benefits from this project,” he said.
Save the Children has been working on DRR in Tien Giang since 2003. It committed to working in Tien Giang, Dong Thap in particular and in the Mekong in general, helping to reduce the disaster risks facing children and their communities and increase their resilience to the harsher climate these children will inherit.
Viet Anh