Prudential Vietnam builds disaster-resilient homes in typhoon areas

Prudential Vietnam builds new houses to bring a more secure and safer future for those affected by typhoons

Titled “Safe houses for the community,” the project not only contributes to disaster recovery efforts, but also helps stabilise the lives of people in the typhoon-hit areas of Vietnam and reduce disaster risks.

At the end of August 2018, the fourth storm known as Typhoon Bebinca made landfall in the northern and north-central provinces. The typhoon led to significant human and property losses with hundreds of homes damaged and thousands of cattle and poultry killed. The typhoon has severely affected the lives of people in the mountainous areas. The provinces of Thanh Hoa and Nghe An faced the most severe consequences.

According to reports from the affected provinces, the typhoon killed 15 people, destroyed 139 houses, and damaged 7,000 other houses. Around 8,900 families had to relocate due to landslides and flooding.

Most of the affected families are poor or near-poor households so they faced tremendous obstacles in stabilising their lives after the disaster. Their livelihood has been severely affected in the aftermath of the typhoon with over 2,000 cattles and poultry killed and thounsands of hectares of crops damaged.

To help the affected community stabilise their lives, Prudential has implemented the “Safe houses for the community” project with three activities including building disaster-resilient houses, supporting the livelihood recovery, as well as providing training to improve knowledge and skills on disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation for the local authorities and people.

The inaugration of the first five houses took place at Xop Mat village in Luong Minh commune, Tuong Duong district. The programme aims to develop 30 houses in total, with 14 houses in Nghe An and 16 houses in Thanh Hoa for the affected families.

Once completed in the next two months, the new houses will be handed over to local residents to provide them a solid and secure place to live. The houses are specifically designed to be disaster-resilient to withstand typhoons and storms, thereby helping the families to weather the brutality of natural disasters.

Previously, Prudential has supported the livelihood recovery of 44 families and organised three trainning classes on disaster-resilient houses, four advanced classes on disaster prevention and response skills for 110 staff and people. The firm also hosted regular communication sessions, reaching more than 550 people in 20 villages. Each activity within the framework of the programme helps raise knowledge on coping with natural disasters.

Understanding that natural disasters are always full of unexpected risks, during the past years, Prudential has always acted in a timely manner to support the affected community. Previously, Prudential spent VND1.5 billion to support 11 provinces in the aftermath of the floods last year to share losses with those affected. With regards to disaster risk reduction, Prudential has supported 15,000 fishermen and children in the central region with protective equipment as well as necessary skills to cope with disasters.

Automatic rain gauging stations are also installed to help local authorities forecast floods in the localities. In an effort to protect the environment, Prudential also implemented a long-term strategy on climate change adaption and environmental protection, with the first project aimed at building a community without plastic waste.

Sharing about the project, Clive Baker, general director of Prudential Vietnam said that, “During the past 20 years, we have always listened, understood and acted to bring sustainable future for millions of Vietnamese people not only through effective financial solutions but also through meaningful community activities. The "Safe house for the community" project will help stabilise the lives of people suffering severe consequences of natural disasters. The project is Prudential's next significant activity on the journey to build and spread good values across the country. ”