Speech by Ms. Caitlin Wiesen, UNDP Resident Representative at the award ceremony for the “School Ambassador in disaster prevention and climate change adaptation" competition

May 21, 2019

Date:     18th May 2019
Venue:   Hoi An City, Quang Nam province

•    Mr. Le Tri Thanh, Vice-Chairman of Quang Nam Provincial People’s Committee,
•    Mr. Tran Quang Hoai General Director of Viet Nam Disaster Management Authority/Project Director,
•    Representatives from Quang Nam Province and Hoi An city, and the media,
•    Teachers and students,
•    Ladies and gentlemen,

It is my great pleasure to participate in this award ceremony for the “School Ambassador for disaster prevention and climate change adaptation” and to visit again Hoi An City, Quang Nam province.

Every year in Viet Nam, floods, typhoons and other disasters cause death and hold back essential economic growth and sustainable development.  And unfortunately, disasters are becoming both more frequent and intense globally due to the impacts of climate change. 

Today’s competition has been organised as part of a joint Government-UNDP-GCF project “Improving the resilience of vulnerable coastal communities to climate change related impacts in Viet Nam." This project has been working in coastal areas, including Quang Nam, to build resilient housing, strengthen mangrove buffer zones, and to help planners and communities to better access and use disaster risk and climate change information.

But today’s event is special- and is a first for the project- in that it focuses on raising awareness about disaster and climate change risk among young people- specifically those between the ages of 11-15.  This is particularly important as young people are both great communicators and influencers in their communities- but also because they are our future.  The youth of today are Viet Nam’s leaders, innovators and thinkers of tomorrow.   

So I would like to thank our partners in Government for this event, particularly the Vietnam Disaster Management Authority, the Quang Nam Provincial People's Committee, the Department of Education and Training of Quang Nam Province, Hoi An City People's Committee and Hoi An City Communist Party for their active support in helping the voices of these young people be heard.

This competition aimed to help young people think about the action they can take- and how they can change their own behaviour to have an impact on global challenges like reducing disaster risk and tackling climate change. 

Through the competition, students were able to learn about disasters and climate change challenges, but more importantly they were encouraged to dream big and to suggest innovative solutions to address the disaster and climate change challenges of today and of the future.

The competition received more than 500 entries, and I hope that all the young people who submitted ideas will feel more motivated to engage in the disaster prevention and climate change adaptation activities in their communities.  And I also hope that some of their creative ideas can be shared and even potentially upscaled to help build the resilience of their communities. 

Ladies and gentlemen,

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, 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.  I know that working together we can all play a key role in making sure that Hoi An City achieves its vision to become a resilient, sustainable and green city by 2050.

Finally, I would like to end by thanking the organisers for their hard work, and enthusiasm to prepare for this event and I look forward to continuing effective cooperation in 2019.