Prudence Foundation and Save the Children have provided more than 12,000 children in 24 primary schools in Dong Thap and Tien Giang with training and life-saving equipment to better prepare them for potential disasters.
This USD 197,000 Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) project was funded by the pan-Asian Prudence Foundation and carried out by Save the Children from February 2013 to April 2014. The project’s goal is to increase awareness of the possible dangers of disasters and the negative impacts of climate change for the children and the communities located in disaster-prone areas in two provinces.
In coordination with the local departments of education, centres for flood and storm control, Vietnam’s Red Cross and the Disaster Management Centre, Save the Children provided disaster risk reduction training to the children and teachers, giving them the tools they need to design preparedness plans for their schools. In addition, children were trained in evacuation drills and provided with life-saving equipment as well as swimming lessons so that they could better protect themselves and others during disasters.
Similar activities were also organised in the children’s communities with estimated 24,000 people benefiting from the project.
Jack Howell, CEO of Prudential Vietnam said, “Vietnamese people have an interesting saying: ‘living with the floods’. This implies that the best way to face disasters is to be well-equipped. By sponsoring this DRR project, we are very happy to continue providing realistic support to Vietnamese communities. The project provided school children with practical skills to survive and overcome disasters such as tropical floods and storms.”
Save the Children’s country director, Gunnar Andersen, said: “We work closely with local partners to help vulnerable communities including children to better prepare for natural disasters. We have provided them knowledge and skills in order to reduce the negative impacts of natural disasters, and to build a more comprehensive and effective model of child-focused, community-based disaster risk management in Dong Thap and Tien Giang. By empowering individuals, this project is expected to have a long-lasting impact on communities, which will ultimately save lives.”
Đăng ký: VietNam News
