NGOs Support Ethnic Minorities in Dien Bien in Natural Disaster Risk Prevention and Response

On April 24, in Dien Bien Phu City, the project "Strengthening natural disaster risk resilience for ethnic minorities in Dien Bien province" (IREM) was officially launched. Accordingly, IREM, by the German Relief Alliance (Aktion Deutschland Hilft or ADH) through World Vision, supports ethnic minority communities in the province to improve their ability to prevent and respond to natural disaster risks.
May 02, 2024 | 12:24

On the same day, at the project kick-off workshop held in Dien Bien Phu City, World Vision representatives first introduced to the provincial leaders of Dien Bien and three districts of Muong Ang, Muong Cha and Tuan Giao an overview of the goals and meaning of IREM to implementing partners. The second part of the workshop introduced the project implementation time (from October 2023 to November 2024) and the coordinated implementation plan.

NGOs Support Ethnic Minorities in Dien Bien in Natural Disaster Risk Prevention and Response
Delegates at the workshop "Enhancing natural disaster risk resilience for ethnic minorities in Dien Bien province" (Photo: World Vision).

Deputy Director in charge of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Dien Bien Province Tran Van Thuong believed that the implementation of the project, the efforts, and interactions between stakeholders will help the project achieve expected results, improving the community's ability to respond to natural disaster risks.

Thuong also asked delegates representing local agencies to "join hands to carry out tasks within the project framework to help stabilize local socio-economic development and spread positive results to the community in other localities".

"Our strategy for the period 2023-2027 aims to ensure sustainable safety and security for children. The IREM project represents our efforts to accompany local partners to care for the communities and children, through strengthening their resilience to natural disaster risks for the communities that are most vulnerable,” Dang Van Bai - Program Manager for North 1 region (Dien Bien, Hai Phong, Hanoi) of World Vision International in Vietnam shared.

Immediately after the project kick-off workshop, provincial-level activities will be conducted in Dien Bien, such as a core instructors training program on Community-based Disaster Risk Management and Safe Schools Framework; basic rescue kits for Pioneering Teams, support for the organization of the national week on natural disaster prevention (May 15-22, 2024) with the theme: "Acting early - being proactive before natural disasters", and World Environment Day (June 5, 2024).

With an implementation budget of more than VND 17 billion (about US $670,000), the IREM project will directly benefit more than 20,700 people including disadvantaged households, children, single parents, and people with disabilities. The main activities of the project include raising awareness about responding to natural disaster risks, strengthening community capacity, and supporting equipment and response structures to minimize impacts and damages from natural disasters. To ensure gender equality and social inclusion, the project's approach will increase women's participation in the process of capacity building for the community, improving the integration of people with disabilities in activities such as disaster risk prevention and response in their communities.

World Vision and ADH article
Children participate in life skills improvement activities conducted by WVIV and localities in Tuan Giao district, Dien Bien province (Photo: World Vision).

Besides special projects such as IREM, World Vision is also implementing regional programs for 10,15 year period in five districts of Dien Bien province including Dien Bien Dong, Muong Ang, Muong Cha, Tua Chua, Tuan Giao to improve the chidlren welfare.

The programs include Child Protection & Child Participation Project, Health & Nutrition Project, Project Sustainable Livelihoods Project, Strengthening Community Participation & Child Sponsorship. Topics such as responding to climate change, reducing natural disaster risks, and gender equality are of World VIsions' special interest. Thereby, they are integrated throughout the projects.

World Vision reports that Dien Bien is a mountainous province located in the Northwest of Vietnam with a high rate of poor households and the community living here faces many challenges in economic development.

In addition, in recent years, many extreme weather phenomena have frequently occurred, including thunderstorms, hail, tornadoes, landslides, floods and flash floods. They affect the lives and economies of people in the area. Dien Bien is home to 19 ethnic groups, accounting for more than 80% of the province's population.

Preliminary assessments show the urgent local need to strengthen resilience to natural disaster risks for these communities. Therefore, the project will be implemented in a number of communes in Dien Bien city and three districts of Dien Bien province (including Muong Ang, Muong Cha and Tuan Giao).

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