From 22- 24 September 2019, at least 1,200 people have been reached by Viet Nam Red Cross Society (VNRC) through the provision of household kits which contains two blankets, two mosquito nets, a kitchen set, a plastic mug, a water bucket and a water container (30L) with lid to 300 households in four communes of two provinces of Lam Dong and Kien Giang. As of 8 October 2019, at least 3,600 people (900 households) in three provinces of Dak Lak, Lam Dong and Kien Giang have been assisted.

To enable the distribution of household kit and unconditional cash grant (planned for early October), the beneficiary selection training have been carried out in all three provinces from 11 to 13 September 2019. The participants included Red Cross staff at provincial, district and commune levels, representatives from commune’s people committees, the Fatherland Front, women union, and heads of hamlets. Participants learned about the operation’s objectives and were trained on procedures and steps to identify beneficiaries. The guidelines for selection beneficiaries will be for the household kits and unconditional cash grants.

Prior to the above training, VNRC chapters had organized meetings with local Red Cross and authorities in order to identify and select the target hamlets/villages, communes and districts as well as agree on the training and distribution plan in the local area.

In early August 2019, several provinces in the center, central highlands and south of Vietnam have been impacted by floods following torrential rain over a number of days. The worst affected provinces are Kien Giang followed by Lam Dong, Dak Lak and Dac Nong. Other provinces affected include Gia Lai, Kon Tum, Dong Nai, Binh Thuan and Binh Phuoc. (Click here for the map of affected areas)

According to a recent report issued by the National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control (NCDPC), there have been 11 deaths, one (1) missing, five (5) people injured and over 1,985 people evacuated. In total 12,307 houses have been flooded. In addition, households have lost livestock, gardens and other assets.

On 16 August 2019, the IFRC released CHF 299,608 from the Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) to support VNRC respond to the escalating situation, after their own capacity and resources was exceeded. The major donors and partners of the DREF include the Red Cross Societies and governments of Belgium, Britain, Canada, Denmark, German, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway, Republic of Korea, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland, as well as DG ECHO and Blizzard Entertainment, Mondelez International Foundation, and Fortive Corporation and other corporate and private donors. The IFRC, on behalf of VNRC, would like to extend thanks to all for their generous contributions.