In October 2020, according to the National General Statistics Office, central Vietnam was hit by four tropical storms with heavy rains and landslides that killed 129 people and damaged more than 111,200 houses. Even though the local people are no strangers to killer tropical storms, Nguyen Ngoc Huy, a Vietnamese international expert and senior advisor for Oxfam on climate change, believes more needs to be done in order to save lives and property after natural disasters. Huy received a PhD in Environmental Studies from Kyoto University with a focus on drought risk management and climate change adaptation in 2010. He has over 15 years of experience working on water resource management, climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction, and education in emergencies in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. He has also served as an international consultant for UNISDR, UNCCD, IFAD, ADRC, and UNESCO in conducting research, studying policy, and developing tools for disaster risk reduction. While he was a Ph.D candidate researching natural disaster mitigation, he realized that disaster management needed precise data from many fields. He continued to learn about meteorology, floods, droughts, climate change, and recovery efforts after disasters in his quest for knowledge. Since 2008, Huy has used social media to spread information and warnings about disastrous weather. He is motivated to share this information as he believes that forecasted information can save lives and property. Aware that countries have differences in disaster response and management and also suffer from gaps between forecasts and the needed response, he tries to narrow the gap. To understand the weather forecast Internet users in Vietnam refer to Nguyen Ngoc Huy as “Huy, the weather boy” and follow his weather forecasts online as they find them more understandable and useful than other forecasts. On December 29, one forecast post about the unusually cold weather that occurred from late …
Housing communities
Older villagers given key role in community tourism
Regular visitors to Hoa Tien Village in the north-central province of Nghe An’s Quy Chau District would no doubt have seen some of their professional young tour guides in action. But community tourism in the village, which has won a place on the national tourism map as an attractive destination, struggled to find success without older villagers also working as tour guides. The idea of involving older villagers in tourism activities was first raised in 2014, when the Thai Cultural Conservation Club was established by a group of local Thai ethnic minority people. From an initial eight members, who shared the same pastime of singing Thai folk songs, the club has now grown to 38, including some who have been awarded the title "Excellent Master Singer", like Sam Thi Vinh aged 71. The club is not only active in folk singing and dancing but also in tourism promotion. Club leader Lo Duc Mau said its members are now operating in groups that specialise in certain cultural activities, including preserving the Thai minority’ language, spiritual customs and folk music. After noting the need for local involvement, provincial tourism authorities encouraged some of the older members of the club, who are knowledgeable about the village’s traditions and culture, to be part of a project developing community tourism in the province by working as tour guides. “Working as a tour guide is also an opportunity for these people to contribute to promoting traditional cultural values in their village while increasing their earnings,” according to Sam Thy Xanh, a club member now working as a tour guide. Formerly a teacher and among the first of the elders to become a tour guide, Xanh said she was excited to be selected by provincial authorities to be part of the project on developing community tourism in Hoa Tien Village. “I accepted it as my new mission in life, because I saw that people had trust in me,” she said. “But I also thought it would be fun and I could add …
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UNDP extends disaster-resilient house program for people in coastal Vietnam
The Hanoitimes - UNDP believes that the support will help residents rebuilt their lives and livelihoods. A crowdfunding campaign entitled “Safe Houses Save Lives” to build houses for residents in Vietnam’s central coastal areas was launched on February 5, contributing to recovery plans in the flood-hit region. Representative of Korean non-governmental organization World Share and Caitlin Wiesen, UNDP Resident Representative in Vietnam at the campaign. Photo: UNDP Vietnam In the partnership among the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Dan Tri newspaper, and the Vietnam Fund for Promoting Education, the campaign aims to build 100 new storm- and flood-resilient houses for poor and near-poor families in Quang Binh. The two-year campaign, which receives financial support by the Korean non-governmental organization World Share and VND1 billion (US$43,000) from Dan Tri, is part of a broader UNDP effort to support government response and recovery work in central Vietnam. It is estimated that 100,000 resilient houses are needed to meet the demand of vulnerable households in typhoon-prone coastal areas. In her opening remarks, Ms. Caitlin Wiesen, UNDP Resident Representative in Vietnam, stressed the importance of ensuring no most vulnerable left behind in the recovery plans in the flood-hit region, saying that “We believe that the more resilient houses are built, the less people will suffer from loss and damages when storms and floods strike, and the more quickly they will be able to rebuild their lives and livelihoods.” Critically, with safe homes and protected property, less people will need emergency support in the future. “With joined up action, we believe the goal can be achieved. We invite all partners to join with us to build more storm-resilient houses to ensure that no one is left behind,” said Ms. Wiesen. UNDP Resident Representative in Vietnam Caitlin Wiesen . Photo: UNDP Vietnam So far, …
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