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Building resilience to flood
and typhoon hazards in Viet Nam
Ian Wilderspin, Technical Specialist (Disaster Risk Management), UNDP; Miguel Coulier, UNV and
Dr. Nguyen Huu Phuc, Director of the Disaster Management Centre, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Viet Nam
V
iet Nam has addressed many of its development chal-
lenges in recent years, reducing its poverty rate from 58
per cent in 1992 to 14.5 per cent in 2008
1
and report-
ing GDP growth
2
of approximately 6.5 per cent in 2010. Per
capita income has increased five-fold in the past four decades,
3
helping lift millions of people out of poverty.
4
All of this consti-
tutes encouraging progress towards achieving the Millennium
Development Goals.
5
However, Viet Nam’s location in one of the most typhoon-prone
areas of the world makes it vulnerable to a range of hydro-meteoro-
logical hazards.
6
From 1990-2009 the country suffered an estimated
annual economic loss equivalent to 1.3 per cent of GDP.
7
More
than 70 per cent of the population is exposed to risks from multiple
natural hazards.
8
Due to rapid development and urbanization, cities
are increasingly vulnerable.
9
There is gradual intensification of storms and typhoons due to
climate change in Southeast Asia,
10
with damage exacerbated by
increasing population density and economic infrastructure in
exposed areas.
11
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment
(MoNRE)
12
predicts an increase in extreme rainfall and flooding.
Components of resilience
Viet Nam has made significant progress in reducing vulnerability
to disasters through concerted actions addressing the five main
components of resilience: governance; risk assessment; knowledge
and education; risk management and vulnerability reduction; and
disaster preparedness and response.
13
Governance
Viet Nam’s main disaster risk management (DRM) objectives
14
are
outlined in the National Strategy for Natural Disaster Prevention,
Response and Mitigation to 2020. This framework, which focuses
mainly on water-related disasters, has a budget of US$18 billion,
15
of which around US$13 billion is for structural measures such as
reservoirs, dams and dykes, and US$5 billion for non-structural
measures. The strategy outlines different approaches and solutions
to natural hazards affecting different regions of the country
16
and
addresses community awareness raising and information dissemi-
nation; disaster response building; inclusion of DRM in the school
curriculum; and training for those involved in DRM. It stresses the
importance of building resilience to disasters and promotes the role
of mass organizations
17
in disaster response and recovery.
In 2009, the Government approved a community-based disas-
ter risk management (CBDRM) programme.
18
This ambitious
US$53.5 million
19
programme will be implemented
over a twelve-year period in about 6,000 communities
and villages frequently affected by disasters.
20
This will
require improved capacity at national, provincial and
local levels along with coordination, partnership and
quality control. For more than a decade, international
non-governmental organizations (INGOs) and the Red
Cross have pioneered methods, tools and approaches
to enhance resilience and reduce vulnerability among
some of the most disaster-prone communities. Lessons
learnt and good practice
21
developed from such activities
form the foundations of the Government’s programme.
The Disaster Management Centre of the Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) have
sought expertise from the non-governmental sector for
the implementation of the programme.
Whilst a comprehensive legislative framework exists
in the country, it does not specifically cover manage-
ment of natural hazards.
22
The most prevalent hazards
(mainly water-related) as well as earthquake and
tsunami
23
are covered under the Ordinance on Flood
and Storm Prevention and Control,
24
which stresses the
importance of community participation.
25
Much of the existing legislation lacks clear arrange-
ments for enforcement and the current organizational
structures have focused largely on disaster response
rather than prevention, although the CBDRM has
brought something of a paradigm shift in Government
thinking on this. To address these gaps and to improve
institutional arrangements for DRM, a comprehensive
DRM Law
26
is currently being drafted by a team of legal
experts supported by UNDP, working alongside several
Government-appointed committees. In close collabora-
tion with NGOs, the Red Cross and mass organizations
at national level and involving a comprehensive public
consultation process at commune and village level,
the law is expected to be promulgated by the National
Assembly in 2012.
The Central Committee for Flood and Storm
Control (CCFSC) was established in 1946 along
with committees at provincial, district and commune
levels.
27
The inter-agency committee, comprised of
some 22 ministries and agencies, is responsible for
the formulation of flood and storm related policies
and mitigation measures in Viet Nam.
28
The CCFSC’s
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