The first study tour was organised in October 2007, covering 7provinces from Tien Giang to Thua Thien Hue. With the success of this tour, on 19-26 March 2008, Development Workshop France (DWF) under the DIPECHO Advocacy Network Initiative (DANI) has also organized a Communities Disaster Tour II in the North and Central of Vietnam from Lao Cai to Thua Thien Hue. The objective of the second study tour is to share and enhance experiences between projects in the North of Viet Nam and to create an opportunity for participants to have field visits for a better preparation of future projects.

The second study tour gathered 35 participants, including representatives from CECI – UNDP, CCFSC, Spanish Red Cross - Netherlands Red Cross - Vietnam Red Cross, Care International, Save the Children, Oxfam HK, World Vision and Development Workshop France (DWF) together with local authorities, working on Community - Based Disaster Risk Management (CBDRM) in Viet Nam.

Following the itinerary of the second study tour, on March 21st, 2008, disaster management (DM) practitioners visited and had a meeting with representatives of the Standing Office of Central Committee for Flood & Storm Control.

Welcoming the guests were Mr. Nguyen Si Nuoi, Deputy Director of Standing Office of Central Committee for Flood & Storm Control cum Deputy Director of Department of Dike Management and Flood & Storm Control, and Mr. Nguyen Viet Tien, Deputy Manager of Department of Dike Management and Flood & Storm Control, along with NDMP staff. During the meeting, DM officers attended an introduction session on DM System in Vietnam, Structure, Responsibility and Operation of Central Committee for Flood & Storm Control; and a presentation on the National Strategy for Natural Disaster Prevention, Response and Mitigation to 2020 that was approved by the Government in November, 2007. There was also an open discussion among participants on difficulties frequently encountered by the local authorities in disaster management process.

Members of the study tour highly appreciated the meeting where many of them were, for the first time, given a chance to approach and discuss with representatives of government agencies about issues of important and practical meaning to their regular work at the localities.

During the study tour, many preparedness and recovery activities have been assessed to be successfully implemented by project initiators. For example, in Lao Cai all participants were able to grasp various methods to minimizing damages caused by flash flood and landslides through mapping flash flood and landslide present status and risk. Besides, activities such as Mangrove replantation (Red Cross), post-disaster recovery (CARE), Safe housing construction process (DWF), etc., have satisfied most of participants.

The study tour II has collected numerous experiences from different projects and many questions have been raised during the visit. Most of the questions in ebullient discussion mainly focus on finding suitable solutions to minimizing damages caused by disasters.

In conclusion, all participants highly appreciate the study tour that is a very good chance for visitors to learn and to share experiences on Disaster Prevention Work from different projects. Development Workshop France (DWF), representative for the DIPECHO Advocacy Network Initiative (DANI), would like to thanks all organizations for the contribution to the success of the study tour II