Capacity building for Vietnam Red Cross at all levels in responding to natural disasters
(Baonghean.vn) - The project has contributed to improving the capacity of the Vietnam Red Cross Society at all levels in emergency response and first aid to reduce losses of life, livelihoods, and property caused by disasters.
On October 5, in Vinh city, the Central Committee of the Vietnam Red Cross Society held a conference to summarize the project "Improving emergency response capacity for the Vietnam Red Cross Society" funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Attending the conference were comrade Nguyen Hai Anh - Vice President of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Red Cross Society; representatives of ministries, departments, branches, Red Cross Societies of provinces and cities.
Vietnam is a country that is heavily impacted and affected by natural disasters and climate change. In recent years, natural disasters have occurred continuously in many places across the country, with many different types, from storms, floods, flash floods, landslides, riverbank and coastal erosion, saltwater intrusion, drought, severe cold, etc.
Climate change with its unusual developments and increasingly serious levels has caused heavy losses in human lives and property, affected the implementation of the country's development goals, and posed many requirements and demands for the country, ministries, branches, and localities, including the Vietnam Red Cross Society, on disaster prevention, response, and adaptation to climate change.
In that context, the United States Agency for International Development has funded the Association to implement the project "Improving the emergency response capacity of the Vietnam Red Cross Society". With a total budget of 800,000 USD (equivalent to about 18.7 billion VND), implemented over a period of 2 years (from September 1, 2021 to the end of October 2023), deployed in 10 communes in 4 provinces: An Giang, Khanh Hoa, Son La and Nghe An.
The project has contributed to improving the capacity of the Vietnam Red Cross Society at all levels in emergency response and first aid to reduce human, livelihood and property losses caused by disasters. In particular, the local chapters in the project area have improved their emergency response capacity, meeting the increasing requirements placed on the Society in participating with ministries, branches and localities in implementing disaster prevention, response and climate change adaptation.
In Nghe An province, the main project activities were carried out from January 2022 to July 2023, with a total of 3,490 direct beneficiaries, including 1,656 men (47%) and 1,834 women (53%). The number of indirect beneficiaries was 13,000 people due to the direct beneficiaries of communication activities and disaster prevention drills in the media community.
Provincial and Commune Red Cross Societies The project will develop annual disaster management plans in 2022 and 2023, including new human resources, such as provincial and commune-level joint disaster response teams, early response preparedness activities, and forecast-based early action such as bracing houses and assets.
Nghe An Provincial Association and disaster response teams and disaster communications have responded well and mobilized over 6.8 billion VND and relief goods for people affected by floods in low-lying districts and flash floods in Ky Son district in October 2022.
Training activities for provincial and commune disaster response teams are also carried out according to the progress of the team establishment. Promoting the project's operational models, the Provincial Red Cross Society continues to consult and request funding from the provincial budget in 2022, organizing 12 training courses on community disaster response for 12 shock teams of 12 communes with key natural disasters. In 2023, it continues to propose the provincial budget and has been approved to provide 410 million VND to train shock teams of 12 communes, which will be deployed from October to December 2023.
At the Conference, the Central Committee of the Vietnam Red Cross Society assessed the results of project implementation, clarified the results achieved, especially the implementation of the overall objectives, the expected results of the project, the positive aspects and the transformative impacts that the project brought to the Red Cross at all levels in improving the capacity to respond to emergency situations; the development and drawing of lessons learned from the project implementation process, effective models, transformation stories from the project implementation process,...
Developing disaster prevention plans; early warning and early action communication plans; results of communication work, training of forces as well as plans to mobilize and use trained human resources and equipment and materials from the project; assessing the advantages and difficulties in implementing the project.
At the same time, the Conference also recognized the shortcomings, limitations, and issues that need to be learned from to more effectively implement future projects, as well as made recommendations on areas and work contents that the Association needs to continue to strengthen in order to further improve the emergency response capacity of Associations at all levels nationwide.
Also within the framework of the Conference, delegates were introduced by representatives of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Red Cross Society about the project plan until August 2025.
