Clean water has arrived in Phu Tho province, Vietnam, with the help of the Red Cross and DNV.
At the recent ceremony marking the arrival of clean water supply, Kamal Kumar, DNV’s Area Manager in Vietnam commended the Vietnam Red Cross, Norwegian Red Cross and DNV for their collective efforts to help the local villagers.
“It is an honour to be present at this ceremony to celebrate the successful completion of DNV’s first water and sanitation project in Vietnam,” said Mr Kumar. “We do hope that the new water supply system, together with the new toilet facilities, will make for a healthier, better life for the community here in the Dung village. At the same time, we would like to thank the Red Cross and the local authorities for the good cooperation and hard work throughout the project.”
“Many millions of people live below the poverty level here in Vietnam so we must do all we can to help. Our cooperation with the Red Cross to help the needy ethnic minority groups in Phu Tho province will hopefully have a spin-off effect in other areas, with more villages taking on similar projects,” added Helge Kjeøy, DNV’s regional manager in South East Asia.
The one year project, costing $100,000, provides water, sanitation and integrated community development for 98 households in the Dung village in Tach Kiet commune, Tan Son district of the Phu Tho province. The project also includes Ngoc Dong primary school and kindergarten. Both projects involve the provision of DNV’s risk management competence and part funding from DNV South East Asia.
Exchange of competence
Mr Kjeøy explains, “The partnership is founded on the exchange of competence. As well as gaining financial support, the Red Cross will benefit from DNV’s expertise in core areas such as disaster preparedness, risk management and contingency planning. The ultimate aim of the cooperation is to increase the capacity of the Red Cross to carry out its humanitarian work here in Vietnam.”
Mr Kumar made the point of saying that DNV’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts are becoming increasingly important and thanked all DNV employees in Vietnam for their support. “All the employees have shown a remarkable passion to help the less fortunate here in Dung village. I firmly believe that their effort, combined with the cooperation between DNV and the Red Cross, is helping to make other people’s lives a lot safer and happier.”
Deprivation and vulnerability
In spite of Vietnam’s strong economic growth over the past nine years, there remain great areas of deprivation and vulnerability in many parts of the country. Over 12 million people, representing 14% of the 86 million population, live under the one-dollar-a-day poverty line, according to Gideon Tesfai, regional coordinator for the Red Cross.
“The rural areas are particularly exposed to vulnerabilities resulting from poor water and sanitation in households and communities in general. Short-term emergency response interventions, improving water and sanitation and increasing awareness about health issues will considerably improve the lives of individuals and reduce some chronic vulnerability in the communities,” said Mr Tesfai.
Disaster-prone
Vietnam is one of the most natural disaster-prone countries in the world. Due to global warming and climate changes, disasters in Vietnam during the past five years have become increasingly unpredictable, frequent and destructive. Every year, Vietnam is hit by 7–12 storms, and about one million people need emergency assistance.
“The limited resources of the poor and the impact of the natural disasters, are the two main causes of poverty in Vietnam,” pointed out Mr Tesfai and added: “Effective disaster preparedness and emergency relief to enable poor people to manage and cope with difficult situations is an important part of the Red Cross work.”
Voluntary services
Commenting on the cooperation with DNV, Mr Tesfai said, “The partnership is highly valued by the Norwegian Red Cross as DNV’s support is not just limited to financial contribution: it also provides technical support, encouraging its technical staff to offer voluntary services in the CR projects where it is engaged – not only in Vietnam but in other countries such as China, Indonesia, Serbia, and African countries.
He concluded, “Since our cooperation started in 2004, we have benefited from DNV’s core expertise in disaster preparedness and risk management, and firmly believe the cooperation between the Vietnam Red Cross and DNV will develop in the same direction.”
Date: 2010-06-11