More than 1,300 flood-proof houses to be built to boost Vietnam’s climate resilience

More than 1,300 flood-proof houses will be built and around 1,300 hectares of mangrove forests will be planted and restored in 2019 under a project funded by the Green Climate Fund (GCF).

Delegates at the presentation of a storm-resilient house to a vulnerable family in Thua Thien – Hue province (Photo:  qdnd.vn)
Delegates at the presentation of a storm-resilient house to a vulnerable family in Thua Thien – Hue province (Photo: qdnd.vn)

This was announced by the steering committee of the project called ‘Improve the resilience of vulnerable coastal communities to climate change related impacts in Vietnam’ at a meeting held in Hanoi on January 17.

The project, which was launched at the end of 2017, has been implemented by the UNDP, the Vietnam Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and the Ministry of Construction.

The meeting was attended by representatives from the two ministries, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Vietnam Administration of Forestry, and the Vietnam Disaster Management Authority, as well as leaders and members of the project’s management boards in Nam Dinh, Thanh Hoa, Quang Binh, Quang Ngai, Quang Nam, Thua Thien – Hue and Ca Mau provinces.

Speaking at the event, MARD Deputy Minister Hoang Van Thang spoke highly of the project’s achievements in 2018, during which a total of 1,098 flood-proof houses were constructed and nearly 200 hectares of mangrove forests was planted and restored.

Over 15,000 communal level public servants and residents of 100 communes received training on community-based disaster risk management over the past year.

Participants at the meeting reviewed advantages and difficulties in deploying the project in 2018 and suggested solutions to realise the targets set for 2019 and upcoming years.