Putting into use 731 storm- and flood-resilient houses

Project "Strengthening resilience to the impacts of climate change for vulnerable coastal communities in Vietnam," sponsored non-refundably by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is implemented in Thua Thien - Hue province from 2018 to 2024 with three components.

The project's goal is to strengthen resilience to the impacts of natural disasters and climate change on vulnerable coastal communities in Thua Thien - Hue province.

Of which, Component 1 is about supporting houses that withstand storms and floods. Specifically, in the 2018–2021 period, 581 houses have been completed and handed over to put into use. In the 2022–2024 period, 150 houses have been supplemented, increasing the total number of storm- and flood-resilient houses in the area to 731 houses.

Ms. Ho Thi Be, a household supported with a storm- and flood-resilient house in Phong Hien commune, Phong Dien district, said: The house supported by the GCF project has a reinforced concrete foundation to withstand floods and a mezzanine over 2 meters high that not only helps the family have a solid and stable place to live but is also a safe shelter for the whole family in times of flood.

Mr. Dang Van Hoa, Deputy Director of the GCF project in Thua Thien - Hue province, said that in addition to Component 1, in 2024, Thua Thien - Hue province will be supplemented with the implementation of Component 2 on mangrove forest planting. As of now, 22 hectares of mangrove forests have been newly planted in Huong Phong commune, Hue city.

Component 3 is on natural disaster risk information and data management. This component is led by the Project Management Board under the Department of Dyke Management and Natural Disaster Prevention, along with consulting experts from UNDP. The Provincial Project Management Board plays a coordinating and supporting role in implementation.

To date, 4 provincial-level training classes and 80 commune-level training classes have been implemented to train on community-based natural disaster risk assessment and management. After many efforts to overcome difficulties, the GCF project has so far been successfully implemented and achieved its set goals.

The project has contributed to strengthening the resilience of residential housing infrastructure against the impacts of climate change and supporting life stability and safe conditions for households in areas frequently affected by natural disasters in the coastal area. 

Increase the coverage rate and improve the quality of mangrove forests, serving the function of a wave shield, protecting coastal communities, contributing to carbon absorption to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and improving biodiversity.

Establish and strengthen the application of natural disaster and climate risk information systems to support decision-making and planning processes that take into account risks and resilience to climate change.

According to Mr. Le Van Anh, Deputy Director of the Thua Thien - Hue Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Central region, including Thua Thien - Hue province, is where storms and floods often occur, so the problem of resilience to climate change and building safe houses is extremely necessary to ensure people's lives.

The GCF project, along with other socialization resources, has significantly contributed to working with the locality to build thousands of houses that ensure safety and withstand storms and floods, especially in coastal areas.

Previously, there was an unused amount of USD 3.5 million in the GCF project. Therefore, to utilize this surplus non-refundable capital and achieve high efficiency in Component 1, which supports the construction of storm- and flood-resilient houses for poor households, UNDP has agreed with GCF to extend the project until July 2024. Consequently, the remaining funds will be used to construct over 1,000 additional safe houses and plant an additional 103 hectares of mangrove forests.

"We have about USD 3.5 million that does not need to be returned to the sponsor, and we decided to use this amount to support more than 1,000 households in building safe houses," said Mr. Patrick Haverman, Deputy Resident Representative of UNDP in Vietnam.