Director General, Deputy Chairman of the National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control Tran Quang Hoai speaks at the official meeting to launch the "The Natural Disaster Prevention and Control First Response Force" contest in Da Nang on November 25, 2021

Accordingly, the contest "The Natural Disaster Prevention and Control First Response Force" will have 12 participating teams from provinces and cities across the country. The participating members are typical representatives of the grassroots natural disaster prevention and control forces of the localities.

The contest is co-organized by the Standing Office of the National Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control - Vietnam Disaster Management Agency (MARD) and Vietnam Television Center in the Central and Central Highlands regions (VTV8 - Vietnam Television Station), with the support of the United Nations Development Program in Vietnam (UNDP), the United Nations Agency for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women (UN Women).

The national final round will be held from November 25 to December 1 in Da Nang City, including 12 qualifying matches, 3 semi-finals and 1 final. 16 matchs will be filmed and broadcasted on television with a duration of 30 minutes/episode, scheduled to broadcast from the beginning of 2022.

Through the contest, the members of the participating team are the typical factors that help convey valuable knowledge on natural disaster prevention and control, encourage community participation, contribute to natural disaster risk reduction and make a strong transition from "Passive response" to "Active prevention" in each locality in the spirit of "For a safer society against natural disasters"

Mr. Tran Quang Hoai - Director General of the Vietnam Disaster Management Agency (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), Deputy Chairman of the National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, said that natural disasters in the world in general and Vietnam in particular is still very complicated and fierce. The damage caused by natural disasters was heavy, but Vietnam has made significant reductions, especially in reducing human losses. This result, in addition to the efforts of the authorities at all levels, the role of the grassroots response forces and the community is very large.

According to Mr. Hoai, in recent years, Vietnam has effectively implemented a project to improve the capacity of the community in natural disaster prevention and control. The contest "The Natural Disaster Prevention and Control First Response Force" is one of those activities.

"The 2020 contest has brought good results, created positive social effects. After the contest, the first response forces in the localities have developed to a more professional and methodical level in natural disaster prevention and control.", Mr. Hoai said.

The format of the game show "The Natural Disaster Prevention and Control First Response Force" is inspired by the Law on Natural Disaster Prevention & Control, the Amending and Supplementing Law on a Number of Articles of the Law on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control approved by the National Assembly and comes from the practical activities of the grassroots natural disaster response force. Each match consists of 3 parts: "IDENTIFY", "RESPONSE", "ACT". In addition, this year's contest is integrated with content on natural disaster prevention and control in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, 5 members of each team will have the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and skills through different sections on knowledge, simulate realistic movements, maximize teamwork to bring victory for the team as well as give the audience great entertainment moments every Saturday night on VTV8 channel.

The final round of the 2021 contest "The Natural Disaster Prevention and Control First Response Force" will take place in Da Nang from November 25 to December 1.

"The Natural Disaster Prevention and Control First Response Force" is the first contest held in Vietnam in 2020 to honor grassroots natural disaster prevention and control forces. The contest aims to raise public awareness about natural disaster prevention and control and climate change adaptation through integrating knowledge and skills in the form of a new and attractive gameshow. At the same time, creating an interesting and attractive playground for the grassroots natural disaster response force as well as a large television audience.

Mr. Tran Quang Hoai Director General of Vietnam Disaster Management Agency, Deputy Chairman of the National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control presents the Prime Minister's Certificate of Merit to two groups (Vietnam Television Center in the Central and Central Highlands regions, Vietnam Television Station and the Vietnam News Agency in the Central and Central Highlands regions, Vietnam News Agency) have made achievements in preventing, controlling and overcoming the consequences of storm No. 9 and floods in the Central region.

Mr. Tran Quang Hoai Director General of Vietnam Disaster Management Agency, Deputy Chairman of the National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control presents the Prime Minister's Certificate of Merit to Mr. Do Van Vinh, Newsroom Reporter, Vietnam Television Center in Central and Central Highlands, Vietnam Television Station, Mr. Phung Van Hiep, Reporter of Hue Office, Vietnam Television Center in the Central and Central Highlands region, Vietnam Television Station) has made achievements in preventing, controlling and overcoming the consequences of storm No. 9 and floods in the Central region.