The handover ceremony was held in Khanh Lam commune, U Minh district, with the participation of representatives from the Ca Mau provincial People's Committee, local authorities, and beneficiary households.

Mr. Le Van Su, Vice Chairman of the Ca Mau Provincial People's Committee, stated that residents in coastal communes of the province annually struggle with storms, high tides, and harsh climate change conditions. Support from the GCF project has provided resilience housing for a significant number of poor households in the province. With a 254 km long coastline, including 41 coastal and near-coastal communes and towns, Ca Mau still has many poor households without housing or sufficient conditions to build houses. Therefore, Ca Mau hopes that central ministries, sectors, and donors will continue to accompany the province in supporting poor households to stabilize their lives, stay safe in disaster situations, and rise out of poverty.

Ms. Ramla Khalidi, UNDP Resident Representative in Vietnam, emphasized the importance of these houses: "Housing is our most valuable asset, so building resilience houses is the foundation for the climate resilience of households living in coastal areas of Vietnam. UNDP is committed to supporting the construction and reconstruction of houses for climate-vulnerable households, especially poor households, female-headed households, and the elderly."

Ms. Nguyen Thi Het, a beneficiary household representative, emotionally shared that her family’s situation was very difficult, without the means to build a house. "With the support of the project and the province, the dream of having a house for a stable life and economic development has become a reality, allowing us to work securely and improve our family’s economy to escape poverty."

Ms. Doan Thi Tuyet Nga, Director of the International Cooperation and Science Technology Department - VDDMA, and Deputy Director of the Project, spoke about the positive impact the project has brought: “The GCF project has brought hope and peace of mind to more than 5,000 poor households through the support of building disaster-resistant housing. These houses are invaluable assets for poor households. We are proposing a new project to promote these good practices and continue to study coordination mechanisms to mobilize international and other resources to expand and support the construction of resilience houses resistant to storms and floods for people and pilot implementation in coastal and Mekong Delta regions.”

This initiative plays an important role in Vietnam's efforts to enhance the safety of coastal areas, ensuring communities can thrive even in the face of climate change. It is part of the project "Enhancing the resilience of vulnerable coastal communities to climate change impacts in Vietnam."

For more information, please contact:
Phan Huong Giang
UNDP Media & Communications Analyst, Climate Change and Environment
UNDP Vietnam
Phone: 0948 466 688
Email: phan.huong.giang@undp.org