More than 100,000 safe houses needed in coastal communities

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Construction and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in collaboration with the Green Climate Fund (GCF) recently held a meeting to review the project “Improving the Resilience of Vietnam’s vulnerable coastal communities to climate change” in 2020 and draft an Implementation Plan for 2021 in Hanoi.

By the end of 2020, despite Covid-19 and typhoons and floods in the Central Region, with the support of the Project, more than 3,500 safe houses have been built, more than 3,300 hectares of mangroves have been planted and rehabilitated reducing more than 146,000 CO2, 24 livelihood models have been successfully implemented for coastal households and more than 39,000 staffs and villagers have been trained in community-based disaster assessment and planning.

The goal of the project by 2021 is to build 4,000 safe houses to withstand typhoons and floods, plant and rehabilitate 4,000 hectares of mangroves, thereby reducing an equivalent of 1.9 million tons of CO2, and 20,000 people having access to information about climate change and natural disasters.

Mr. Tran Quang Hoai, Director General of the General Department of Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, Project Director said: “Despite the historic typhoons that hit the central region earlier this year, most of the houses supported by GCF project are still safe. This is one of the successes of the project that we need to distribute information and replicate the model to promote the effectiveness of the project".

According to the Project Director, in addition to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and major floods in the central region, there are other difficulties that affect the progress of project implementation such as determining the area to plan 50ha of mangroves in Thanh Hoa, reviewing the list of households participating in the project in Quang Binh and Thanh Hoa provinces, or reviewing the effects of natural disasters (droughts, floods, typhoons)...

“In general, although heavily affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and floods in the Central region, with the fierce efforts of the Project Management Boards, the GCF project has achieved some encouraging results”, Mr. Tran Quang Hoai commented.

Ms. Caitlin Wiesen, UNDP Resident Representative in Viet Nam, said: “We are delighted to see that the project's safe houses have helped protect people's lives and property. UNDP highly appreciates the efforts and successes of central and local project management units. Despite being affected by Covid-19 and historic typhoons and floods, the project has nearly completed its targets which were set out for 5 years of implementation".

Addressing the project's plan for next year, UNDP Viet Nam Resident Representative expressed his hope that MARD, MOC and provinces will approve the 2021 Action Plan as soon as possible so that the Project will be commenced in the first quarter of 2021: "We hope to maximize the number of households that can welcome the Lunar New Year in safe houses".

According to Ms. Caitlin Wiesen, the new Safe Housing Program is a good example of how the Project can replicate its results to communities in other regions in Vietnam. The project should take advantage of this opportunity to replicate the benefits and potentials for other vulnerable households and communities.

"During the next 10 years from 2021 to 2030, UNDP will remain committed to assisting the General Department of Disaster Prevention and Control and provinces in implementing the disaster management program", Ms. Caitlin Wiesen stressed.

At the meeting, representatives of the Ministry of Construction and UNDP also shared their viewpoints about the need for safe housing to withstand floods and typhoons in 28 coastal provinces of Vietnam. They agreed that 100,000 safe houses, of which 24,000 in coastal areas, need to be built.