Hanoi, October 12, 2021 - In response to the International Day of Disaster Risk Reduction (October 13), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in partnership with the Viet Nam Disaster Management Authority (VNDMA) and the Vietnam Administration of Forestry (VNFOREST) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, has organized a competition entitled “Innovative communications solutions to reduce the impact of climate change and increase resilience to disasters.” The main aim of this competition is to raise awareness among Vietnamese students, and to call on the community to proactively participate in disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation.

Viet Nam is one of the world's most vulnerable countries to climate change, where natural hazards are becoming more frequent and intense. The Mekong Delta area and provinces in the Central region have been experiencing increasingly harsh droughts and severe saltwater intrusion, while severe floods and landslides are impacting communities throughout the country. In 2020 in particular, the Central region suffered from unusually intense storms and floods, threatening the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people, especially the poor. The impacts of climate change and disasters are causing climate security challenges and potential threats to Viet Nam’s development goals. Moreover, the Delta variant of COVID-19 has spread rapidly across the country, compounding the existing risks, especially for the most vulnerable groups, such as the poor and near-poor, women, children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities.

At the launch of the competition, Mrs. Doan Thi Tuyet Nga, Director General of the Department of Science, Technology and International Cooperation at the Viet Nam Disaster Management Authority under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, noted the importance of communications in disaster risk prevention: “We hope that the competition is not merely a promotional, awareness-raising activity in the short term, but will contribute towards comprehensive, continuous, long-term awareness raising, that improves resilience to disasters and climate change.”

Speaking on behalf of UNDP Viet Nam, Mr. Khusrav Sharifov, Senior Technical Advisor, noted: “Responding to climate change requires the efforts of all ministries, sectors, local agencies, businesses, individuals, and communities, among which our youth play an essential role. Every action, even the smallest, has the potential to have an immense impact, contributing to raising awareness and creating motivation for whole-of-society participation.”

Affirming the role of young people in responding to climate change, Mr. Sharifov added: “UNDP is willing to introduce new creative initiatives that can attract the mass participation of youth and university students, and generate momentum for them to respond to climate change as part of their self-awareness and lifestyle.”

Vietnamese students between the ages of 18-25 attending national universities, who are passionate about creating innovative media products and want to contribute to disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation are invited to participate in this contest. There is limit to the number of entries, and one student can submit more than one entry.

Contest entries should be innovative communication products such as comics, short films, video clips, posters, etc., that can be published on mass media (except for radio). In particular, innovative ideas suitable to an online platform are encouraged. Entries will be selected based on their creativity, clear message, and strong impression on viewers.

The winning submissions will be selected and awarded cash prizes based on voting on the contest's official fan page. Evaluations will be done by a judging panel composed of five experts and professionals from UNDP, VNDMA, and a national press agency.

The competition officially begins on the 12^th of October 2021 and will be open for submissions until 15^th of December 2021. The awards ceremony will be held in Hanoi during the fourth week of December 2021.

The competition is an awareness-raising activity under the framework of the project “Improving the resilience of vulnerable coastal communities to climate change-related impacts in Viet Nam,” which is financed by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and UNDP and implemented in collaboration with the Government of Viet Nam.

Contestants/teams should send their entries to the following email address: truyenthongsangtaobdkh@gmail.com

For more information, please refer to the fan page at: https://www.facebook.com/vungvenbienvabiendoikhihau

The launching ceremony will be livestreamed on the following fan pages:

• UNDP Viet Nam: https://www.facebook.com/undpvietnam
• Coastal Resilience to Climate Change: https://www.facebook.com/vungvenbienvabiendoikhihau
• Youth Newspaper: https://www.facebook.com/thanhnien

For more information, please contact:

Ms. Phan Huong Giang

Media & Communications Analyst,

UNDP Viet Nam

Email: phan.huong.giang@undp.org; Tel: 0948466688.