Viet Nam

Key facts

Hazards covered by anticipation    

Drought | Heat waves

No. of people reached by anticipation (activation)    

25,525 

Anticipation partners in country    

Viet Nam Red Cross Society | German Red Cross | IFRC | FAO

Inform Risk Index (2022)   

Hazard and exposure: 5.6

Vulnerability: 2.2

Lack of coping capacity: 4.2

Total: 3.7 (medium)

Rank: 91

Country profile

Viet Nam is a middle-income country with a monsoon climate in the north, a tropical climate in the south, and over 3,000km of coastline. Its varied terrain includes mountains, coastal lowlands and a major river delta (the Mekong).

Over 70 per cent of the population is exposed to one or more hazards, including floods, landslides, typhoons, heat waves, earthquakes and drought. The most prominent of these are floods and landslides, which cause human fatalities and damage or destroy homes and agricultural land, threatening rice production and food security. Increasing temperatures and urbanization have contributed to heat waves, which can have severe health effects on children, the elderly, and those who live or work with little protection from the elements.

Disaster management and response in Viet Nam is coordinated under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, which is also responsible for the state's management of agriculture, fisheries, irrigation, rural development and related sectors.

Projects

Forecast-based financing: closing the gap between disaster risk reduction and relief in Viet Nam 

The Viet Nam Red Cross Society and the German Red Cross started engaging with forecast-based financing in Viet Nam in 2018, when they began looking into the impacts of heat waves in urban areas. They are now working on an Early Action Protocol to protect vulnerable urban populations in Hanoi, Hai Phong and Da Nang from the health effects of heat waves.

FAO is working on anticipation of drought in Viet Nam.