National Conference on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control Search and Rescue in 2023

• Excellency Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the National Steering Committee on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control (NDPC), Mr. Tran Luu Quang;
• Excellency Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and Deputy Chairman of NDPC, Mr. Le Minh Hoan;
• Representatives from Ministries, provincial People’s Committees;
• Colleagues from development partners and international organizations,
• Distinguished guests

Thank you for this opportunity to provide brief remarks, on behalf of the United Nations. My interventions will:

First, appreciate the strengths of disaster management system and recognize important achievements to date.

Second, share some lessons learned.

And third, highlight areas for continued attention.

[We are all aware that] Viet Nam is one of the most hazard-prone countries in the Asia-Pacific Region and ranked among the top five globally likely to be most impacted by climate change. 70% of Viet Nam’s population live in coastal communities and are highly exposed to extreme weather events and sea level rise due to climate change. Those who depend on agriculture are also at greater risk from more frequent drought and water scarcity. Economic activities linked with natural environment and ecosystems, such as in fisheries and tourism, will suffer more climate related loss and damages.

The Government is actively addressing these challenges. Since the enactment of the Law on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control in 2013, Viet Nam has further systematized its Disaster Risk Management (DRM) and disaster response capability. A multi-agency and hierarchical model for disaster management is in place, which also incorporates elements of Community-Based Disaster Risk Management (CBDRM). Government coordination -- at national and local levels -- is effective.

Viet Nam’s successful response to the 2020 historical flooding in the central region and last year to Super Typhoon Noru demonstrates a maturing of the country’s disaster management system.

I congratulate the Government of Viet Nam, the National Steering Committee, including the MARD, VNDMA and local authorities for the leadership and strong focus on leaving no one behind.

What have we learned? Some lessons:

1. Anticipatory Action (AA) in Viet Nam empowers people and communities to better prepare for and mitigate the impacts of disasters. It enables timely action, reducing loss of life, livelihoods and assets, while minimizing the need for costly post-disaster response and recovery efforts.
2. Integration of disaster and climate risks into joint strategies and socio-economic development plans at the sub-national level leads to more resilient, sustainable, cost-effective, and equitable development outcomes.
3. Enhanced use of socio-economic data in disaster assessment, monitoring and accounting of loss and damage improves risk management. This enables priority setting and resource allocation for those most at risk.
4. Building community resilience to various natural hazards is part of local development.

Notwithstanding the effectiveness of disaster management efforts to-date, we need to be ready, adaptive and agile to respond to multiple crises. The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us this lesson well. We are learning that risks are highly interconnected, multi-dimensional and increasing in severity. With climate change, disaster impacts are exceeding society’s ability to absorb shocks and recover quickly.

How can we further enhance disaster management to achieve risk-informed development?

Adopt a multi-dimensional approach to avoid siloes in risk management. Strengthen prevention and anticipatory action to increase society’s ability to cope with shocks. Could there be consideration for linking anticipatory action with social protection systems? With predicted increase frequency and severity of extreme weather events and slow onset crises, existing social assistance programs need to be more shock responsive.

A focus on prevention and risk-informed development also means shared responsibility and accountability for risk prevention. Building community resilience linked to climate commitments and the SDGs, investing in climate-and disaster-resilient infrastructure, and shock-responsive social protection systems with adequate financing are critical elements. More importantly, shared accountability for risk prevention requires a new social contract, where the responsibility for disaster management prevention rests not only on one response agency but spreads to key socio-economic sectors most affected by the risks.

Much work remains to be done. But we are stronger together.

Thank you! Xin cảm ơn!