The Project is funded by the Government of Japan to the Vietnam Disaster Management Authority (VNDMA) of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development through the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Vietnam, worth $5.7 million for the period from 2021 - 2026. The project aims to strengthen the capacity of institutions to support child-centered and climate-sensitive actions through policy, advocacy and regulatory interventions reaching 27 million children under the age of 18 in Viet Nam. The interventions are designed to enhance integrated and adaptable sectoral capacity to effectively respond to children need with focus on climate change, nutrition, water and sanitation.
It will also equip children, families and communities with knowledge and life-skills to cope with climate change and natural disasters in Central and the Mekong Delta regions, especially in Soc Trang, Ca Mau, Bac Lieu provinces. As part of expected results for strengthened resilience, 20,000 individuals including 9,000 children will have improved water, sanitation, and hygiene services, and 10,000 children under five years old will be screened for severe acute malnutrition for possible intervention by 2025.
His Excellency YAMADA Takio, Ambassador of Japan to Viet Nam
Children are the least responsible for climate change, yet they will bear the greatest burden of its impact. According to UNICEF’s report issued this year on the Children’s Climate Risk Index, children and young people in Viet Nam are among those most at risk of the impacts of climate change, threatening their health, education, and protection. UNICEF will work to ensure that children can live in a safe, green and clean environment through this project in strong partnership with Viet Nam Disaster Management Authority (VNDMA) in Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD). This includes making children the center of climate and environmental policies, encouraging children participation, and reducing children's vulnerabilities and deprivations aligned with international commitments, particularly the Paris Agreement, the Sendai Framework and the SDGs.
Ms. Rana Flowers, UNICEF Viet Nam Representative
“The climate crisis is a child’s rights crisis,” said Rana Flowers, UNICEF Viet Nam Representative. “Viet Nam has been facing climate change related natural disasters such as drought and saltwater intrusion in the Mekong Delta Region and consecutive storms that caused heavy floods and landslides in Central Region last year. Many affected communities had pre-existing vulnerabilities and have been severely impacted by COVID-19 pandemic. With thanks to support from the Government of Japan, the project will address vulnerabilities in multi-sectors such as WASH, nutrition, education, and child protection that contributes to risk reduction of climate change with VNDMA and other Co-Implementation partners. Furthermore, the project considers children as not only vulnerable groups of people, but also as agents of change for safe, clean, and green community.
His Excellency YAMADA Takio, Ambassador of Japan to Viet Nam and Ms. Rana Flowers signed on Exchange Note at MARD on the day with the witness of Mr. Nguyen Hoang Hiep, MARD Vince Minister.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Deputy Minister of MARD, H.E. Nguyen Hoang Hiep thanked the Government of Japan and UNICEF for their interest in campaigning to support risk reduction as well as other related fields such as nutrition, health, education, clean water to meet minimum needs of people in areas frequently affected by natural disasters.
H.E. Nguyen Hoang Hiep, Deputy Minister of MARD
The Deputy Minister also emphasized that the signing event for project funding agreement today marks an important milestone in the strong and long partnership between the Government of Japan, the Government of Vietnam and the UNICEF. In the coming time, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development hopes that the Japanese Government and UNICEF will continue to share experiences in developing public-private partnership projects to strengthen the resilience of the governance systems and DRM infrastructure; produce recommendations to the Government of Vietnam on the implementation of multidisciplinary behavior change communication campaign in disaster risk management; raise awareness of both people and leaders, especially at local levels, to contribute to the promotion of a sustainable and resilient society to natural disasters.
The Project will accelerate the partnership for the protection and promotion of child rights in climate change and disaster risk reduction between UNICEF and VNDMA who have been collaborating since the emergency response to drought and saltwater intrusion in 2016-2017, which was also supported by the Government of Japan. It will also seek to introduce innovative and sustainable technologies on disaster resilience and climate responsiveness for drought and flood-prone areas, and will draw on experience from Japan and other countries. UNICEF’s support through this project will complement the efforts of development partners including JICA by enhancing capacities of officials, service providers, children, and communities.
