Focusing on disaster prevention and control

Vietnam is urged to integrate disaster prevention and control policies into local socioeconomic development planning processes

Both sides on April 7 held a workshop to introduce the new Circular No.10/2021/TT-BKHDT to guide the integration of disaster risk management into SEDPs.

More than 100 delegates were in attendance, including representatives from the MPI, the Vietnam Disaster Management Authority, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the UNDP. Also involved were officials from Thua Thien Hue and Nam Dinh provinces, as well as district-level authorities and national and international non-governmental organisations.

With technical support from the UNDP, the MPI has issued Circular No.10, which replaces the previous version with an updated document incorporating more practical points regarding the integration of disaster and climate change risk reduction into SEDPs.

The additional articles in the new circular include the development of strategies for integrating disaster risk management (DRM), the selection of measures to be integrated, disaster prevention measures, gender- and nature-based solutions, and the assessment of said DRM measures.

Highlighting the importance of the new circular and the solutions it offers, Tran Anh Dung, deputy director of the MPI’s Department of Agricultural Economy stated, “The amendments and revisions are intended to focus on the inadequacies that arose during the previous implementation."

"These include specifying the content and implementation processes in order to more closely address disaster prevention and control issues, providing more concrete guidelines on how to select DRM measures and reflecting updates from newer legal documents such as the 2019 Law on Public Investment. This will equip ministries and local governments with the knowledge they need.”

In his opening remarks, Dao Xuan Lai, assistant resident representative of the UNDP in Vietnam and head of its Climate Change and Environment Unit said, “This workshop is very meaningful, especially as the nation begins to implement its 10-year socioeconomic development strategies. For the next five years, the country will be transforming its economic structure towards green growth and reducing greenhouse gas emissions as per its commitments at COP26. The effective implementation of this circular will target several important issues to reduce disaster risk and enhance resilience for local communities and infrastructure.”

The DRM measures are intended to prevent disasters from affecting socioeconomic development, mitigate any negative impacts on the environment, reduce disaster risk, and develop a combined infrastructure that includes functions for minimising the effects of disasters.

At the workshop, representatives from coastal provinces discussed their situations and shared their experiences. Many localities are implementing the integration of DRM measures into their SEDPs.

Thua Thien Hue province, for example, is applying these measures in their local processes for both annual and 4-year plans covering the period up to 2025. These include applying technology to operate and supervise disaster prevention and control tasks for community services.

The circular has provided practical solutions to disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation, a key priority in the National Strategy on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control that was issued by the government.

The event also emphasised the importance of gender when integrating DRM into sustainable development plans, as well as improving public knowledge and awareness of climate change and disasters.

This event was organised under a project – Improving the resilience of vulnerable coastal communities to climate change-related impacts in Vietnam – financed by the Green Climate Fund and the UNDP.