Students of Quang Nam province win the "School ambassador in natural disaster prevention and climate change adaptation 2019" award

May 21, 2019

Caitlin Wiesen, UNDP Resident Representative of Viet Nam and Vice Chairman of Quang Nam Provincial People's Committee, Le Tri Thanh award the 1st prize.

Quang Nam province, 18 May 2019 – Today, the Viet Nam Disaster Management Authority (VNDMA) along with the United Nation Development Program (UNDP) and Quang Nam People's Committee have announced results of the Competition “School Ambassador in Disaster Prevention and Climate Change Adaptation 2019” at Nguyen Binh Khiem Secondary School, Hoi An city of Quang Nam province.

This activity is under the framework of the Project “Improving Resilience of Vulnerable Coastal Community to Climate Related Impacts in Viet Nam”. The purpose of the competition is to create a useful playground for schools’ students and to offer them a great opportunity to explore, share their creative ideas with each other and have a better understanding of disaster prevention and control, climate change adaptation and help raise awareness among their families, relatives and friends.

After 3 months of running the Competition, the organizers have received more than 500 entries from students currently studying at secondary schools in the provinces of Quang Nam, Thua Thien Hue and Ninh Thuan. These entries include many pathbreaking ideas, profound contents, diversified forms and innovative expressions, which evidently reflects the interests, enthusiasm and full engagement of the participants in the Competition.

Special prize has been awarded to the two school students: Truong Nguyen Y Nhu and Tran Thanh Thuy, from Grade 7/5 respectively from Nguyen Binh Khiem Secondary School (Hoi An City, Quang Nam province), by Vice Minister of MARD Nguyen Hoang Hiep and Miss Viet Nam 2018 Tran Tieu Vi

The special prize has been awarded to the two school students: Truong Nguyen Y Nhu and Tran Thanh Thuy, from Grade 7/5 respectively from Nguyen Binh Khiem Secondary School (Hoi An City, Quang Nam province). They were honored for their film "Waking sleeping land after the disaster". This short five-minute documentary introduced the countryside land by the Thu Bon river, which had been crowded, attracting tourists, but has been abandoned since the flood occurred in 2000. Losing the significance of the large abandoned land, which had a potential for an economic development, disheartened the girls. In despair, they decided to spread the word and make it resourceful with their creativity. They decided to utilize the potential and open resources of the land for developing tourism with activities such as boating to take tourists to visit Hoi An ancient town during the flood season. Their spirits of not subduing natural disasters and having practical actions to revive the land, have not only helped disadvantaged people get income but also helped international visitors see the beauty of the land and understand the people of Viet Nam.

The 1st prize of the Competition has been awarded to the work “Action before it is too late” of Grade 9/1 from Nguyen Du secondary school through the Likes and Shares on the Fanpages Natural Disaster Prevention and Control Information. Authors of the highest prizes will participate the Traditional Disaster Day Ceremony organized by the Central Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control in Hanoi to introduce their works. The rest have been awarded with consolation prizes.  In addition, more than 40 students with excellent works selected for the Final Round have been also awarded a Certificate of Merit from the Viet Nam Disaster Management Authority.

Attending the awarding ceremony were representatives of the Central Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, VNDMA under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, UNDP, representatives of People's Committees of Quang Nam Province, of Hoi An City and relevant agencies.

At the Ceremony, Mr. Trần Quang Hoài, General Director of VNDMA emphasized: “The entries sent to the Competition have expressed creative and innocent vision through the children’s lens, which are clear evidences showing that the Competition has achieved the desired results to help the students learn, create and raise awareness of communication to the people. They have been inspired to suggest new ideas, initiatives and solutions to mitigate natural disasters,adapt to climate change, takemeasures to avoid damages to houses,during disasters and provide  solutions to protect daily activities before disasters.. ”

According to Ms. Caitlin Wiesen, UNDP Resident Representative in Viet Nam “Students are our future; their innovative ideas and solutions can help us all to make the changes necessary to build a resilient and sustainable future for Viet Nam. All of you, the young people here today should consider yourself ambassadors for disaster prevention and climate change adaptation in Viet Nam. I hope you will share the information you have learned, and the ideas and solutions developed in this competition when you go back home.”

The Competition “School Ambassador in Disaster Prevention and Climate Change Adaptation - 2019” organized by VNDMA in coordination with the UNDP Viet Nam and Provincial People Committees of Quang Nam, Thua Thien Hue and Ninh Thuan provinces for secondary students in their respective provinces.

More information, please kindly contact:

Phan Huong Giang
Climate Change & Environment Media and Communications Analyst
United Nations Development Programme
Email: phan.huong.giang@undp.org;
Mob: 0948466688

Nguyen Trung Kien
The Viet Nam Disaster Management Authority
Email: trungkien49xf@gmail.com; ĐT: 0907141086