The Centre for Sustainable Rural Development (SRD), representing the network of Vietnamese NGOs and Climate Change (VNGO&CC) and the Climate Change Working Group (CCWG), in collaboration with the Department of Hydrology, Meteorology and Climate Change (DMHCC) under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) co-hosted the Dialogue on Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction in the Central Region of Vietnam in Da Nang city on December 10th and 11th, 2012.
The dialogue aimed to enhance information sharing between the central and local levels in terms of action planning, promoting the potential for cooperation between government agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in implementing and prioritizing tasks and plans regarding climate change adaptation (CCA) and disaster risk reduction (DRR) at the local level.
Attending the dialogue were roughly 100 participants from government agencies such as the DMHCC, the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), the Department of Science and Technology and International Cooperation under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), the Centre for Natural Disaster Prevention and Mitigation under the Water Resource Department, the Ministry of Transportation (MOT), the Support Program to Respond to Climate Change (SP RCC), NGOs, the VNGO&CC and CCWG networks, research agencies, donors, representatives of governmental agencies in eight central provinces, and media in Da Nang city.
At the dialogue, representatives from government agencies presented updates on national CCA and DRR policies and strategies and priorities in responding to climate change in the near future. Representatives from agencies also shared experience in provincial action planning to respond to climate change and reduce disaster risks, while pointing out difficulties and obstacles during the process. Meanwhile, NGOs had the opportunity to present their works at the event; participants discussed how to work for potential future cooperation in action planning and implementation to respond to climate change and mitigate disaster risks in a more efficient manner.
“We appreciate the proactive participation of NGOs over the last three years. The experience-based inputs and feedback from NGOs have meaningfully contributed to the policy making process. We hope that NGOs maintain their support and contributions by joining the policy dialogue in the coming time, and that they especially support capacity building and resource enhancement to improve local activities in responding to climate change,” said Mr. Truong Duc Tri, a representative of DMHCC.
On behalf of VNGO&CC and CCWG, Mr. Truoc Quoc Can shared “Vietnamese NGOs have implemented a wide range of activities to support rural communities in developing their livelihoods, communications to build their capacity and community-based climate change adaptation models that were said to successfully and efficiently respond to climate change. We wish to have the support of and exchange with policy makers in the coming time; we also hope that successful models are taken into account and integrated into policies/strategies at all levels.”
The dialogue was organized as part of the cooperation program between SRD and the Thailand Environment Institute (TEI), funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). It is also one of three activities that were agreed within the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the DMHCC, CCWG and VNGO&CC. Previously, a climate change forum in the Northern region of Vietnam was held in Hanoi on August 31, 2012 and another one in the Mekong Delta was held in Can Tho on November 22, 2012.
-SRD-
Centre for Sustainable Rural Development (SRD)
No.31, Alley 19 Kim Dong Street, Hoang Mai District, Ha Noi
Phone: +84 24 3943 6676/78 | Fax: +84 24 3943 6449
