Thousands of people in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang have been equipped with skills to protect themselves and their families from natural disasters thanks to a project on community-based disaster risk management.

The outcome was released at a ceremony to summarise the project held in the province on June 24.

The 44,305 USD project, funded by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) and CARE International in Vietnam , has been implemented from July 2012 to June 2013 in four communes, namely Binh Phu and Thach My Tay in Chau Phu district, Vinh Loc and Vinh Hau in An Phu district.

Thanks to training courses, residents in the most vulnerably affected areas have learnt how to prevent, cope with and adapt to impacts of natural disasters and climate change. Meanwhile, livelihood-support models such as aquaculture and the breeding of water-reliant plants for poor households during flooding seasons were also introduced.

After its success, the project will be duplicated in the province from now until 2015, focusing on raising public awareness of flood prevention and natural disaster mitigation.

At the ceremony, six units and 15 individuals received certificates of merit for their contributions to the success of the project.-VNA