Vietnam mulls over applying AI in warning about landslides, flash floods
	NGO provides more aid for localities hit by storms, floods
	Disaster-hit Vietnam’s central provinces receive more financial aid

At the ceremony. Source: UNFPA Vietnam

In a ceremony in Hanoi, Naomi Kitahara, UNFPA Representative in Vietnam handed over 6,903 Dignity Kits to Thao Xuan Sung, Chairman of the Central Committee of Vietnam Farmers’ Union, for distribution to women at risk of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in Vietnam’s floods-affected five provinces, namely Hue, Quang Tri, Quang Ngai, Nghe An and Thanh Hoa provinces.

This follows UNFPA’s earlier handovers of dignity kits to the Vietnam Farmer’s Union to mitigate negative consequences of COVID-19 and to women at risks of GBV in floods-affected provinces in Vietnam. Up to now, about 12,474 women in eight provinces have received the Dignity Kits. The handover was made possible with financial contributions from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund.

The country’s central coastal region has suffered unprecedented flooding from prolonged downpours and successive typhoons since early October, resulting in more than 200 deaths recorded so far, and displacing thousands of people. At least 5.5 million people in the region have been affected, including an estimated 1,343,162 women of reproductive age with 92,075 of them pregnant.

Pregnancy and menstruation do not stop in emergencies, and as such uninterrupted services for sexual and reproductive health must be provided to women and girls. And risks of violence against women and girls increase in crisis, for which effective prevention and response must be immediately put in place.

According to the joint rapid assessment carried out last year, in which UNFPA experts played a lead role in the most affected areas of central Vietnam, health facilities have been hit hard by floods and landslides, and routine public health programs such as antenatal, childbirth, post-natal care, and family planning services have been disrupted. Women and girls continue to be unable to access basic health care services, including sexual and reproductive health.

The disaster has forced women and girls to displacement in evacuation centers without having the time to pack essential supplies. As a result, they are unable to manage their hygiene properly and lack access to basic needs such as sanitary pads, clothes and underwear. In addition, access to water and places to wash and dry reusable pads and clothes, or to dispose of used materials, is currently challenged.

Many poor and destitute women remain unemployed during and after floods. Women may also suffer from domestic violence and are subject to harassment when taking shelter at community centers. These particular vulnerabilities and problems interrupt women’s mitigation efforts and adaptation capacities in disaster risk reduction.

Dignity Kits are a signature product of UNFPA's comprehensive package of humanitarian assistance to safeguard sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and girls, mitigate the risk of gender-based violence, and respond and protect the dignity of women and girls adversely affected by a crisis.

“Preserving dignity is essential to maintain self-esteem and confidence, which is important to cope with in stressful and potentially overwhelming humanitarian situations. A Dignity Kit comprises the basic items that women and girls need to protect themselves and maintain their basic hygiene, respect, and dignity in the face of crisis,” said Kitahara at the handover ceremony./.

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