The aid will respond to the urgent needs of more than 10,000 heavily-impacted people in the provinces of Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen, and Khanh Hoa.
A local victim in Tuy Hoa district, Binh Dinh province received relief from EU (Photo: EU Delegation to Vietnam)
According to a source from the Delegation of the EU in Vietnam on December 13th, this EU-funding supports the Vietnamese Red Cross Society (VNRC) in delivering much-needed assistance through the distribution of tarpaulins, shelter tool kits, household kits, and water purification tablets. In addition, cash grants are being provided to ensure the most vulnerable families can meet their basic needs and sustain their day-to-day livelihoods. As outbreaks of water-borne and mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue, and typhoid are common following flooding, disease prevention activities are also being conducted.
The funding is part of the EU’s overall contribution to the Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
Considered the strongest tropical system to strike south-central Vietnam in the last 20 years, Typhoon Damrey made landfall over the South-Central coastal province of Khanh Hoa on November 4th, killing over 100 people and affecting more than four million, including close to 400,000 in need of assistance.
Over 3,000 homes were destroyed, and nearly 140,000 others damaged, while some 130,000 hectares of arable lands were inundated, significantly impacting the livelihoods of the people in the predominantly agricultural country.
Although water levels have receded, the humanitarian needs remain immense and the local capacity to respond has been over-stretched following the large scale of the disaster’s impact./.