Investing USD 5,7 million in order to deal with disaster risks for children

Aiming towards 27 million children under 18 years old in Vietnam

On November 17, the Japanese Embassy and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), both in Vietnam, cooperated to organize the Signing Ceremony of the Exchange Notes for the Project “Enhancing children's resilience to disaster risks and climate change” with the witness of the Deputy Minister of MARD Nguyen Hoang Hiep, Deputy Head of the National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control.

The Project is funded by Japan’s Government to the General Department of Natural Disaster Prevention and Control (MARD) through UNICEF Viet Nam, worth $5,7 million for the period of 2021 - 2026. The goal of the Project is to enhance institutional capacity to support child-centred and climate-sensitive activities through advocacy, propose mechanisms and policies to approach 27 million children under 18 years old in Vietnam.

The proposals and results of the Project are designed to enhance the branch’s capability to synthesize and adapt in order to effectively meet the children’s needs, focus on climate changes, nutrition, clean water and sanitation.

The Project will also equip children, families and communities with knowledge and skills to cope with climate changes and disasters in the Central and Mekong Delta, especially these provinces: Soc Trang, Ca Mau and Bac Lieu. It is expected that the Project will enhance the resilience of 20,000 people, including 9,000 children, with improved water and sanitation services, and 10,000 children under 5 years old will be screened for severe acute malnutrition for timely interventions by 2025.

According to the report of Children's Climate Risk Index, published by UNICEF this year, in Vietnam, children and teenagers are most at risk from the impacts of climate change, which directly threaten their health, education and protection. Through the Project, UNICEF will coordinate closely with the General Department of Natural Disaster Prevention and Control to make efforts to ensure that children grow up in a safe, green and clean environment.

Which, including the placing of children at the centre of climate and environmental policies, encourage the participation of children, reduce children's vulnerability and deprivation, compatible with international agreements, especially the Paris Agreement, the Sendai Framework and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Vietnam and Japan join hands in natural disaster prevention and control

According to Ms. Rana Flowers, Head Representative of UNICEF Vietnam, with supports from Japan’s Government and the coordination of the General Department of Natural Disaster Prevention and Control and other co-implementation partners, the Project will solve vulnerable issues in many fields such as clean water, sanitization, nutrition, education and children protection, contribute to reducing risks from climate change. Additionally, the Project will not only consider children as a vulnerable group but also as agents of change for a green, clean and safe community.

Share at the program, Mr Takio Yamada, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan in Vietnam said, Japan and Vietnam are coordinating to promote 2 operations which are the Project to respond to landslides in the Northern mountainous area and the Project to effectively operate the dam in Thua Thien - Hue province. The Ambassador also shows hope that the provision of grant aid through this project will contribute to helping Vietnam improve the effectiveness of natural disaster prevention and control.

Speaking at the Signing Ceremony, Deputy Minister Nguyen Hoang Hiep thanked Japan’s Government and UNICEF foundation for showing care and advocacy to support risk reduction as well as related fields such as nutrition, health care, education and clean water to meet the minimum needs of people in the frequently affected area.

The Deputy Minister emphasized: Today signing of the funding agreement marks an important milestone in the strong, multi-year partnership between the Government of Japan, the Government of Vietnam and UNICEF.

“In the near future, MARD hopes that the Government of Japan and UNICEF continue to share experiences and jointly develop public-private partnership projects to strengthen the resilience of disaster prevention and management systems and structures; making recommendations to the Government of Vietnam, implementing a behaviour change communication campaign in the area of disaster risk reduction with multi-sectoral coordination, as well as raising awareness not only for the people but also for other stakeholders, leaders, especially in localities, contribute to promoting the building of a sustainable society before natural disasters," said Deputy Minister Nguyen Hoang Hiep.