Mobilising complementary approaches to preparedness and prevention
In the face of repeated disasters in Viet Nam, Government strategy for prevention and preparation has tended to focus on strengthening and developing larger infrastructure, securing land and sea based productive capacity and protecting dykes and riverbanks *1. When a disaster happens the government and the international community have all been active in both responding to emergency situations and the provision of relief and support for rehabilitation. For damage to homes, the government assists where it can in the aftermath of a disaster by handing out materials to those who have lost their homes, and a family usually will get a small reconstruction grant. For example, in the aftermath of typhoons and floods in 1999 that destroyed 10 000 houses and damaged 470 000 in central Viet Nam, the prime minister decreed exceptionally *3 that 1 million VN Dongs (+/- 80 Euros) be given to each person whose house has been destroyed to help reconstruction. Again in 2001 after Typhoon Ling Ling, the province of Binh Dinh provided VND 3 million to each family that had lost its house*4. When a disaster occurs, the donor community also contributes to the process of rebuilding.
But reconstruction is costly and the level of support is often limited in proportion to the real recovery cost to the family. Faced repeatedly with major losses, families and local communities have themselves to take on most of the burden of domestic rebuilding, with only exceptional support*2 . The cost of rebuilding is considerable, and many families (a) have to borrow large sums in order to recover, and (b) often find themselves living in houses that are at best no stronger than before, and at worst, considerably weaker.
Learning from this, organisations such as the International Federation of
the Red Cross and the Vietnam Red Cross have been helping people acquire safe
"core" houses, but this approach is often inflexible and does not
take account of the reality that many people in Viet Nam have made progress
in building their own home suited to their family needs and customsIt is in
this environment and in complement to national strategies that DWF’s
promotes a strategy that encourages people to
incorporate disaster resistant construction details into both existing buildings
and new construction. This preventive action mobilises local resources and
capacity, respects local custom and needs, and safeguards the investment that
the family has already made in their home and that local authorities have
made in small local public facilities.
*1.See, for example, the Central Provinces Initiative for
Natural Disaster Mitigation in Central Viet Nam, Second National Strategy
and Action Plan for Disaster Mitigation and Management in Viet Nam, March
2002.
*2 A recent Prime Ministerial Decree (August 2002) offers flood exposed families
to be relocated in a safer place in the Mekong Delta, with a credit system
for land (10 millions VN Dongs) and for a house (8 millions VN Dongs).
*3 Central
Committee on Flood and Typhoon Control “Official report on the damage
and response to flood and typhoons in the south-central and central highland
provinces of Viet Nam.” Hanoi, November 1999.
*4 Viet Nam News Agency, Nov 12 2001.
