Over the past year, awareness of people in 16 communes in six cities and provinces of Vietnam about natural disaster prevention and fighting has been significantly improved by a groundbreaking project.

A meeting was held on Oct. 27 to review the implementation of the year-long project on “Strengthening Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment (VCA) to enhance community resilience against natural disasters in Vietnam ” (DIPECHO 7).

The project was jointly carried out by the European Commission, Dutch Red Cross and Vietnam Red Cross (VRC), starting from September, 2010, in the six cities and provinces of Son La, Quang Tri, Quang Binh, Dak Lak, Binh Thuan and Can Tho.

Doan Van Thai, VRC Vice President-cum-Secretary General, said the project’s basic objectives were fulfilled and expressed his hope that people in the localities would maintain activities and benefits after the project terminates.

DIPECHO 7 Director Nguyen Huu Thang said the project has supplemented human resources for Vietnamese associations and helped local authorities and people assess potential risks posed by natural disasters.

The project also provided equipment and essential measures for the community to reduce risk./.