Decision No. 1002/QD-TTg approves the Project to Enhance Community Awareness on Disaster Risk Management Based on Community Participation

Pursuant to …;

Approving the Project to Enhance Community Awareness on Community-Based Disaster Risk Management

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PRIME MINISTER

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government dated December 25, 2001;

Pursuant to Decision No. 172/2007/QD-TTg dated November 16, 2007 of the Prime Minister approving the National Strategy for Disaster Prevention, Response, and Mitigation until 2020;

Considering the proposal of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, concurrently Chairman of the Central Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Control,

DECISION:

Article 1. Approves the Project to Enhance Community Awareness and Community-Based Disaster Risk Management with the following main contents:

I. OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT

General Objective:

To enhance community awareness and effectively organize community-based disaster risk management models at all levels, especially local authorities and people in villages and communes, thereby minimizing casualties and property damage, reducing environmental destruction and cultural heritage loss caused by disasters, contributing to sustainable national development, and ensuring national defense and security.

Specific Goals:

- Completing mechanisms and policies on community-based disaster risk management from central to local levels.

- Enhancing the capacity of local government officials directly involved in disaster prevention and response work; ensuring that 100% of officials will be trained and have their capacity and expertise improved in disaster prevention, response, and mitigation by 2020.

- All villages and communes in high-risk areas for disasters will develop disaster prevention plans, establish communication systems, and build core teams with specialized knowledge and skills in disaster reduction, as well as volunteer forces to guide and support the public in disaster prevention, response, and mitigation activities.

+ 70% of residents in communes frequently affected by disasters will be informed about flood and storm prevention and disaster reduction.

+ Incorporating disaster prevention and reduction knowledge into the curriculum of general education schools.

II. TASKS AND SCALE OF THE PROJECT

To ensure consistency and maximize investment efficiency, the project includes two interrelated components, namely:

a) Component 1: Enhancing capacity for managing and implementing community-based disaster management activities for local government officials at all levels.

Component 1 aims to ensure that 100% of officials directly involved in community-based disaster management are trained and have their capacity and expertise improved in this field. It includes the following activities:

- Developing legal documents uniformly guiding the implementation of community-based disaster management activities at all levels.

- Improving the organizational structure of disaster prevention, response, and management agencies at all levels in provinces and centrally-administered cities.

- Establishing training systems for community-based disaster management at all levels.

- Preparing training materials on policies, mechanisms, and implementation steps of community-based disaster management at all levels and within communities (including materials for instructors and learners).

- Organizing training programs on policies, mechanisms, and implementation steps of community-based disaster management for instructors, agencies, local officials, and those directly involved in community-based disaster management at all levels.

- Incorporating capacity-building programs for government agencies and professional instructors in community-based disaster management as essential activities in annual disaster prevention, response, and mitigation plans at all levels.

- Equipping agencies and local governments with tools for flood and storm prevention and providing teaching aids for community-based disaster management instructors.

- Renovating, upgrading, and constructing new offices for provincial and municipal disaster prevention, response, and management agencies.

b) Component 2: Strengthening communication and education to enhance community capacity in disaster risk management.

This component aims to strengthen community capacity in disaster reduction, with over 70% of residents in disaster-prone communes being informed about flood and storm prevention and disaster reduction. It includes the following main activities:

- Establishing community-based disaster management implementation teams (selected by the community).

- Creating disaster maps and vulnerability assessments for each community (developed by the community based on guidance from the community-based disaster management implementation team); setting up display boards, maps, and guides outlining basic preparedness, response, and recovery steps at the center of each community.

- Developing handbooks guiding community activities on preparedness, response, and recovery tailored to different stages: before, during, and after disasters, suitable for each community's cultural traditions and socio-economic conditions.

- Annually, community members collect and update information for disaster maps and vulnerability assessments.

- Annually, communities develop plans for disaster prevention, response, and risk management integrated with climate change impacts.

- Community members incorporate disaster prevention, response, and risk management plans into community development plans.

- Annually, organizing disaster prevention, response, and mitigation drills in communities (including equipment and support tools).

- Establishing early warning and communication systems for disasters within communities (including equipment and support tools).

- Setting up monitoring and evaluation systems for disaster prevention, response, and mitigation activities within communities.

- Regularly communicating community-based disaster management activities through websites, television, radio, newspapers, and posters...

- To develop training materials on disaster prevention, mitigation, and response activities within communities (these materials will cover the entire disaster risk management process, including planning preparation, emergency response activities, recovery and post-disaster rehabilitation activities...).

- Annually organize training courses for community members on specific disaster risk management activities within the community (training sessions are organized separately for different groups within the community such as gender, secondary school students, elderly people...).

- Organize cultural performances with content related to disaster prevention, mitigation, and response within the community during festivals.

- Construct small-scale infrastructure projects serving disaster prevention, mitigation, and response activities within the community (flood avoidance roads, schools, health clinics, clean water sources...).

The framework, implementation plan, and funding details are set forth in Appendices I, II, and III attached to this Decision.

III. TIME AND LOCATION OF IMPLEMENTATION

The project is expected to be implemented over a period of 12 years, starting from 2009 and ending in 2020, and is planned to be carried out in approximately 6,000 villages and communes frequently affected by disasters nationwide.

IV. TOTAL INVESTMENT AMOUNT

The total capital requirement for implementing the project is estimated at approximately 988.7 billion VND, allocated as follows:

- Component 1: Enhancing the capacity of local government officials at all levels in managing and implementing community-based disaster management activities: 182.9 billion VND.

- Component 2: Enhancing the capacity of the community in managing community-based disaster management activities: 805.8 billion VND.

a) Financial mechanism:

With the total capital requirement for implementing the project, the funding for the project is expected to come from the following sources:

- State budget: 546.9 billion VND (55%).

- Community contributions: 46.322 billion VND (5%).

- Non-reimbursable grants from governments and international organizations: 395.48 billion VND (40%).

b) Implementation phase and investment periods:

- Phase 1 (2009 - 2010): 75.4 billion VND.

- Phase 2 (2011 - 2015): 366.4 billion VND.

- Phase 3 (2016 - 2020): 546.9 billion VND.

Article 2. Implementation

1. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Central Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Prevention and Control are the lead agencies responsible for organizing the implementation of the project and have the responsibility:

- To determine objectives, approve contents, calculate necessary funds, and propose annual and five-year implementation solutions; coordinate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance to prepare funds and propose allocations to relevant ministries, sectors, and provinces for approval by the Prime Minister.

- To guide, supervise, and monitor the implementation of the project; serve as the national contact point for international organizations in this field.

- Based on the action plans of provinces and cities, review, develop detailed action plans, clearly identify priority areas, and send them to relevant ministries, sectors, and localities for implementation.

- Organize inspections and audits of the project's implementation by localities; conduct annual reviews and evaluations.

2. The Ministry of Planning and Investment: lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Finance to balance and allocate funds from the state budget, seek other sources of funding to effectively implement the project's contents.

3. The Ministry of Education and Training: coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Central Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Prevention and Control to compile materials and integrate disaster prevention, mitigation, and response content into subjects taught in primary and secondary schools during regular or extracurricular hours.

4. Ministries and sectors: according to their functions and responsibilities, coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Central Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Prevention and Control, and provincial People's Committees to implement this project.

5. Provinces and centrally governed cities.

- Develop and implement the project plan for their respective localities.

- Organize the implementation of approved project-related activities.

- Ensure that project funds are used for their intended purposes and are utilized effectively, implement anti-corruption measures, and prevent fund losses.

- Actively mobilize additional resources and integrate with related activities of other programs in the locality to achieve project goals.

- Prepare the implementation area, submit periodic reports on the progress of project objectives and tasks in the province or city as stipulated.

6. Political-social organizations, businesses, and the public.

Activities aimed at enhancing community awareness and community-based disaster risk management are a societal endeavor. In the process of formulating policies, organizing, and implementing project activities, in addition to state investment, the participation of political-social organizations, businesses, and the public should be mobilized.

Article 3. This Decision takes effect from the date of issuance.

Article 4. THE MINISTERS, HEADS OF GOVERNMENT-LEVEL MINISTRIES, HEADS OF GOVERNMENT-LEVEL AGENCIES, AND CHAIRMEN OF PROVINCE AND CITY PEOPLE'S COMMITTEES DIRECTLY UNDER THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT SHALL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ENFORCING THIS DECISION./.