Thua Thien Hue, 5 November 2018 – The UN Development Programme (UNDP) together with the Viet Nam Disaster Management Authority (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), Housing and Real Estate Market Management Agency (Ministry of Construction) and Thua Thien Hue Provincial government authority have handed 107 storm-resilient houses to the poor and vulnerable households in the province.

Thua Thien Hue province is located on the coastline Viet Nam that is frequently impacted by typhoons and flooding. In 2017 alone, five typhoons and two intense floods hit the province. These are expected to increase in frequency and strength in the future because of climate change.

Despite hundreds of the vulnerable people suffer from the high-level sea rise and strong wind, the local houses – the most valuable asset that they own -  are poorly adapted to such hazards. “The resilient housing can save lives and help communities better prepared against natural disasters”, said Ms. Akiko Fujii, UNDP Deputy Country Director in Viet Nam.

Ms. Fujii highlighted that these houses have been constructed with the additional features to help them withstand the impacts of climate change and extreme weather events. “Moreover, the project has been organizing participatory training courses to improve the people’s knowledge on disaster management, climate change and climate actions to protect their lives and assets”, she added.

The housing support will benefit both "near poor" and "poor" households according to government criteria, with priority given to ethnic minority households and disadvantaged families, the elderly, families of people with disabilities, households in extremely difficult areas and in the poorest districts of the Government's poverty reduction program, and other vulnerable people.

Mr. Phan Dinh Suu, Vice Chairman of People's Committee of Quang Thanh Commune said, "Quang Thanh is an agricultural commune. It is a difficult coastal commune with low terrain, so it is often affected by natural disasters. Thanks to the support of the Green Climate Fund and UNDP, the poor households have built resilient houses and currently, eleven households have finished the construction and have been handed over this afternoon. "

Hue is among seven coastal provinces to implement the national project "Improving the resilience of vulnerable coastal communities to climate change related impacts in Viet Nam". The Green Climate Fund-supported project is being implemented by the UN Development Program, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Rural and the Ministry of Construction between 2017 and 2022.

More information, please kindly contact:

Phan Huong Giang
Climate Change & Environment Media and Communications Analyst
United Nations Development Programme
Email: phan.huong.giang@undp.org;
Mob: 0948466688

Vu Thai Truong
Programme Management Specialist
United Nations Development Programme
Email: vu.thai.truong@undp.org;