Japan, UNESCO Partner to Enhance Disaster Early Warning and Risk Reduction Capacity in Nghe An Province

A project to enhance early warning and disaster risk reduction capacity in Vietnam's central Nghe An Province has been launched with funding from the Japanese government and support from UNESCO. The initiative aims to strengthen monitoring of flash flood and landslide risks, improve local response capabilities, and help communities and schools prepare for disasters. Specifically, it includes upgrading near real-time early warning systems and reinforcing community-centered disaster preparedness, response, and resilience plans. A key objective is to bolster the preparedness and resilience of education authorities, schools, teachers, and students, thereby improving school safety, supporting effective emergency response, and ensuring learning continuity during disasters. UNESCO will collaborate with partners to review disaster risk management plans and emergency response arrangements, and assess existing early warning systems and disaster risk maps. The organization will also support the development or updating of flash-flood and landslide hazard maps in the two pilot communes of Tuong Duong and Muong Xen, and examine options for upgrading early warning systems at the provincial level and in selected high-risk locations. The project is expected to directly benefit approximately 15,000 local residents, including institutions and officials involved in forecasting, early warning, and disaster risk management, as well as community members, students, teachers, school leaders, and local authorities. Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Ito Naoki stated, "By strengthening early warning systems, enhancing local disaster risk management, and improving school safety, we hope this project will help protect lives and livelihoods and contribute to building more resilient communities for the future." Vietnam, situated in a region prone to the impacts of climate change, has frequently experienced severe floods and landslides due to typhoons and heavy rains. Enhancing response capabilities to such natural disasters is crucial for the stability of the national economy and the safety of citizens' lives. Japan has provided long-term support to Vietnam in infrastructure development and disaster prevention, and this project is expected to further deepen the friendly relations between the two countries as part of these efforts.