A meeting was held in the central province of Thanh Hoa to mark the International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction and announce the 2015 World Disaster Report themed “Knowledge for Life.”
The event – jointly held by the Vietnam Red Cross Society, the International Federation of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent Society and the Steering Committee for the Northwest Region – aimed to raise public awareness of risks and threats facing the world.
The meeting also offered a chance to call for closer coordination among ministries and localities as well as international organisations in disaster relief and climate change response.
Vietnam is one of the five countries most affected by natural disasters and global climate change.
Each year, the country is hit by between five to seven storms and floods which seriously impacts 50 percent of the land and 70 percent of population.
Over recent years, the Vietnam Red Cross Society at all levels has provided knowledge and guidelines to volunteers and the public on how to prevent and respond to disasters while organising activities to support affected communities.
The society is implementing tens of international projects in the field, planting and protecting 24,000 hectares of forest in 11 localities nationwide, maintaining 44 centres for disaster prevention and relief and 26 centres for urgent response, and building over 27,500 houses serving Red Cross services.
During the event, the Red Cross Society’s teams and volunteers joined a rehearsal on disaster response at sea, rescuing fishermen and boats during storms.-VNA
