Photos displayed at an outdoor exhibition in Hanoi from Sept. 30-Oct. 6 gave viewers a close look at the impact of natural disasters as well as the Vietnamese Government and people’s efforts to cope with them.

The photos in the exhibit, titled “Vietnam Images – Natural Disaster Proneness and Resilience”, were selected through a national photo contest of the same name organised by the World Bank in association with the National Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Control and Prevention and the Sai Gon Tiep Thi newspaper.

The contest is part of a programme to improve disaster preparedness, financed by the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR).

Photographer Mai Ky from Hanoi took the first prize for “Five days after the floods”.

At the prize awarding ceremony held in Hanoi on Oct. 6, 15 million VND will be presented to the Hanoi Red Cross Society to help typhoon Ketsana victims in the central region.

A seminar on “The role of the media in raising public awareness of natural disaster prevention, mitigation and environmental protection” was also held in Hanoi the same day within the framework of the contest.

At present, GFDRR donors are on a three-day visit to Vietnam that will conclude on Oct. 7 to explore Vietnam ’s natural disaster prevention and control activities and consult with their Vietnamese counterparts on the impact of disasters in the region and orientations to support the Vietnamese Government’s initiatives for post-disaster reconstruction.

The GFDRR has been working with Vietnam since 2007 through assistance in research on climate change and post-disaster recovery efforts.

Located in a tropical monsoon area in South East Asia, Vietnam is susceptible to typhoons, floods, droughts, sea water intrusion, landslides, forest fires and occasional earthquakes.

Statistics show that every year, natural disasters have caused an average of 750 deaths and have resulted in annual economic losses equivalent to 1.5 percent of the GDP over the last decade./.