Press release on DIPECHO 9 project by Viet Nam Red Cross Society, funded by ECHO

Red Cross Red Crescent continues to build sustainable risk reduction capacity in Viet Nam

Hanoi, Viet Nam -The Viet Nam Red Cross Society, with support from the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the German Red Cross, and the Spanish Red Cross, have launched a 17-month project from August 2014 to December 2015 aimed at reducing the number of casualties and losses during natural disasters in Viet Nam.

The project, Enhancing the capacities of disaster risk reduction practitioners in Viet Nam through the consolidation of best practices and lessons learnt for community based disaster risk management, vulnerability capacity assessment and disaster response mechanisms, has been made possible with financial support from European Union humanitarian aid and civil protection department (ECHO) as part of its strategy to document the lessons learned and support the consolidation of capacity and systems for national, provincial and district level community-based disaster risk reduction (CBDRR) action in Viet Nam.

"We made a firm commitment a decade ago to support our partners in strengthening local capacities in Disaster Risk Reduction", says Pedro-Luis Rojo, Head of ECHO’s Regional Support Office in Bangkok. “We are now seeing these efforts bear fruit as local communities, local authorities and national institutions integrate community-based DRR measures into their programs”.

In implementing the project, the Viet Nam Red Cross Society, IFRC, and German and Spanish Red Cross will work closely with the Viet Nam Disaster Management Centre and the Central Committee for Flood and Storm Control of the Directorate of Water Resources within the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to enhance national disaster risk reduction regulatory guidance, support the transfer of CBDRR models under the national community-based disaster risk management programme (1002), as well as to enhance the contribution of the Red Cross to the Vietnamese national disaster response system.

At the commencement of the project, Mr Hai Duong Nguyen, President of the Viet Nam Red Cross Society, reinforces “the importance of continuing 16 years of cooperation with the European Union, and commitment to advancing the wider efforts of developing sustainable disaster risk reduction capacity in Viet Nam through its unique position as the key humanitarian partner to the government of Viet Nam.”

Through the implementation of the project, 2,450 individuals from 50 organizations are expected to have contributed to advancing the knowledge, guidance and practice of disaster risk reduction practitioners in Viet Nam so that they are better equipped and prepared to implement disaster risk management programmes.

For more information, or to arrange interviews, please contact:

Dang Minh Nguyet, Director, communication and resource mobilization department, VNRC
Phone: +84 938 890 888 Email: nguyet_ctd@gmail.com

Ms Ly Nguyen, IFRC communication and reporting officer
Phone: +84 166 2900 769 Email: ly.nguyen@ifrc.org