HCCD-506731-Central VNam Flood Emergency In October 2020, torrential rain caused by a tropical convergence zone combined with cold air mass (05 Oct), tropical storms no. 6 Linfa and no. 7 Nangka, additional tropical depression resulted in severe floods in all the 16 main river systems in the Central coastal area of Vietnam. Following the tropical storm no. 8 Saudel, super typhoon Molave (storm no. 9) caused more heavy rain on the provinces already devastated by weeks of intense multi-disasters. As a consequence, more than 7 million people in Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien Hue, Da Nang, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai provinces were seriously affected.

In flood affected areas in Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, and Quang Nam provinces, the most in-need groups are those with pre-existing vulnerabilities before floods happened. HCCD’s needs assessment on 24-25 Oct indicated that people are in critical shortage of rice, and nutritional food, access to safe drinking water, and women and girls need dignity hygiene items in short term, and appropriate support to assist them in early recovery phase (WASH, livelihood recovery, risks communication). Cash relief has been repeatedly recommended as local markets restored to normal in most of affected areas.

The project "Central Vietnam Flooding Emergency" is implemented by Oxfam, in collaboration with the Ha Tinh Center for Community Development (HCCD) and Quang Nam Red Cross in 4 provinces: Quảng Trị, Quảng Bình, Hà Tĩnh, and Quảng Nam. The implementation period is from November 2020 to May 2021.

Oxfam will work through its locally-established implementing partners HCCD, IWEM, CIRD, and Vietnam Red Cross to timely respond to priority life-saving and recovery needs through Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance, delivery of dignity hygiene kits, and water buckets to some 25,000 women, men, and children of 6,200 hardest hit households in 3 provinces. They will be accompanied by WASH-Covid promotion campaigns to enhance local-readiness and response capacityto water related health risks.

Early recovery support will mainly focus on livelihood support interventions,  including an in-depth livelihood/ market assessment, cash for work activities for integrated WASH-FSL recovery for vulnerable smallholders suffering from damaged arable land and livestock and theongoing economic devastation caused by Covid. Recovery support will include installation water tanks to targeted beneficiaries including women headed household and most disadvantaged people, plus continuation of community-led WASH-Covid risk communications. Based on needs assessment and in coordination with Plan and World Vision, the selected districts are: Cam Xuyen, Thach Ha (in Ha Tinh), Tuyen Hoa (in Quang Binh) and Bac Tra My (in Quang Nam) which were heavily affected by prolonged floods, landslidesand typhoon Molave .

We will mitigate risks to livelihoods by providing choices for income generation for disaster affected men and women, the elderly people, and people with disabilities to participate in cash for work schemes to repair public work andbasic infrastructure. Awareness raising campaigns include key messages on water safe storage, hygiene behaviour, public health risk reduction measures, Covid prevention, will be disseminated in person and through radio. Working with the UN Agencies such as Unicef, WHO, and FAO, and Ministry of Health, Ministry of Agriculture will ensure coordination efforts with relevant ministries/agencies.

EFSVL-WASH, and MPCA activities are adapted to Oxfam’s guidelines on community-facing activities during COVID19,cash transfer considering gender dynamics and protection; beneficiary registration, KIIs, cash for work activities and distributions will follow distancing rules.

Ha Tinh Centre for Community Development (HCCD) will lead the local response operation,and will collaborate with district and commune Red Cross and Women Union, and commune People’s Committees,  for quality and accountable delivery of theresponse package. It is estimated that HCCD and local humanitarian actors will take up to 70% of thelocal implementation and management of the response on the ground.