Building community resilience to disasters

In collaboration with our partner, CECI, ACTED embarked on a third phase of the joint Building Community Resilience to Disasters project in highland areas of Vietnam, which are subject to regular flash flooding. This project is a continuation of similar efforts to work with communes and the government to better prepare for and mitigate disasters, which is in line with both government priorities as well as those of ACTED.

Laying down the first steps for disaster management

Recognizing that much more can be achieved by communities in both preparedness and mitigation to disasters, and to support the National Disaster Risk Management Programme, ACTED, in partnership with CECI, began the implementation of a third phase of the Building Community Resistance to Disasters project with the aim of strengthening disaster risk reduction. In the first steps of the project, carried out in 2010, local trainers were selected from among the various government departments and mass mobilization organizations in the area, including the agriculture department, women’s unions and youth associations, to facilitate various events at the village level in order to build the understanding and skill of villagers and officials to better prepare for and respond to disasters. Local trainers were provided with intensive training in areas such as conducting vulnerability and capacity assessments (VCAs), community-based disaster risk management (CBDRM), first aid, search and rescue, etc., and completed the VCA in 44 villages of Kon Tum and Nghe An provinces.

The project is fully implemented by CECI and its partners, which include the Vietnam Red Cross and several mass-mobilisation organizations including youth and women’s groups. ACTED supports CECI and the project through conducting monitoring and evaluation missions, developing recommendations and reporting tools to improve the overall impact of activities.

2011

ACTED and CECI have developed a strong relationship, both globally and particularly in Vietnam, where ACTED’s expertise in disaster response and CECI’s strengths in development have combined to ensure a holistic approach to disaster risk reduction for vulnerable and remote communities. ACTED continues to work with CECI in the target areas to further increase their resilience, building on activities completed in 2010, while exploring opportunities to support additional communes in the sectors of rural livelihoods and disaster risk reduction.