Innovative approaches for natural disaster risk reduction in Vietnam: Mozambican delegation brings home best practices

Mekong Delta

People in the Mekong Delta region are trained on dyke maintenance,on search and rescue, and children are taught to swim if caught up in flood waters.

Maputo , January 2012 - Mozambique and Vietnam share many of the same concerns when it comes to natural hazards. Flooding in major river basins is an annual problem in both countries; flash floods and cyclones also occur regularly; drought is a frequent issue; and with potential sea-level rise as a result of climate change impacts both countries, with their long coastlines, are particularly vulnerable. A group from the National Institute for Disaster Management (INGC) visited Vietnam in September for new ideas and visions for adaptation to the realities of Mozambique. The group was hosted by the Disaster Management Centre within the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The Mozambique delegation was comprised of three representatives from INGC; from the areas of prevention and mitigation, resettlement and reconstruction, and coordination. The group was accompanied by the UNDP chief technical advisor and a translator.

Delegation learned about the disaster

The Mozambique delegation learned about the disaster management structures in Vietnam and presented their own experiences in this area.

The visit focused on three main areas: Institutional arrangements for disaster risk reduction planning and actions at national and local level; Master planning in disaster risk reduction for Hanoi city in the context of climate change and local hazards, with visits in Hanoi and surrounding areas; and learning about Living with floods and resettlement approaches in the Mekong delta region in the South of Vietnam.

The group observed how investments in infrastructure, for example dams, dykes, bridges and roads, are being made while taking into account potential hazard impacts, and how emphasis on budgeting for creation and maintenance of dykes in critical locations has dramatically increased the results in recent years.

The group visited also the Mekong Delta region, where the “living with floods” approach is promoted, where they met with communities, and saw how programs there are drawing maximum benefit from the annual floods, through aquaculture projects, rice-farming making use of the flood waters, and even transport uses of the flooded waterways. People in those areas are trained on dyke maintenance, on search and rescue, and children are taught to swim to increase their survival chances if caught up in flood waters. The availability of credit facility schemes making loans available at low interest rates to those people affected by floods was also noted as a positive and innovative intervention. “Every disaster brings a new dimension in our plans and our intervention is not only to protect people lives but to obtain maximum benefits by coordinating with all relevant agencies, the future is bleak” said Van Phu Chinh, Deputy Director of Department of Dykes Management, Flood and Storm Control in the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam.

road and slopes

Longest dyke in Hanoi serving as a main road and slopes protected with edible bamboo.

The lessons learnt are intended to be implemented in the Joint Programme for Disaster Risk Reduction and Emergency Preparedness in Mozambique. The programme aims to strengthen national capacities at all levels to reduce the risks associated with disasters, and to mitigate the impacts of disasters on vulnerable populations in the country. UNDP supports INGC in increasing resilience among the most vulnerable population and to encourage innovation and replication of good practices to minimize disaster risk.