As published in Reliefweb.int on 16/1/2019

Phu Yen, 16 January 2019 – The United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Vietnam Disaster Management Authority (VNDMA) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Vietnam, and the Phu Yen Women's Union held a handover ceremony for 102 out of more than 370 safe houses for families who were severely affected by Typhoon Damrey, or No.12, in 2017. This is part of the results of the Typhoon Damrey Housing Recovery and Rehabilitation project funded by the Korean government, carried out in the three most severely affected provinces of Khanh Hoa, Phu Yen, and Quang Nam.

Attending the handover ceremony, Mr. Nguyen Truong Son, Deputy Director of VNDMA, said, “Right after the storm ended, UNDP cooperated with VNDMA and related agencies to organize rapid assessment of damages and recovery needs of people in the affected areas. With the support of the Korean government, after 1 year of implementation, the project has accomplished its objectives and goals. There have been more than 370 houses which have been rebuilt and repaired with storm- and flood-resilient features for poor and near-poor households in three provinces. At the same time, training on safe housing techniques as well as solutions for storm and flood prevention and control have been implemented in these provinces to improve the sustainability of the project.”

The main beneficiaries of the project are poor and near-poor households with houses severely damaged by Typhoon No.12 in 2017, with priority given to female-headed and elderly households. These beneficiary households were selected carefully by the Women's Union, Red Cross, and local authorities to ensure fairness and transparency.

Ms. Akiko Fujii, Deputy Country Director of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), said, “Housing is the greatest asset of a family, so building safe houses is very important. UNDP and the Korean government have been supporting resilience building for communities affected by Typhoon Damrey.”

During a speech he delivered at the handover ceremony, Mr. Lee Chul, Minister Councellor, Embassy of Republic of Korea, remarked that “The project has targeted poor people who were severely affected by Typhoon Damrey. We are very happy that the project not only helps to build and repair safe houses for people, but also restores their hopes and beliefs in a better life and future.”

On behalf of beneficiary households, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thai, of An My commune, Tuy An district, Phu Yen province, expressed her gratitude to the project, donor, and related stakeholders for their timely support. “I am very excited and thrilled to receive this support. Now, my family and I can feel safer every time there is a storm.”

Up until now, with the support of the Korean government and the United Nations Emergency Assistance Fund (CERF), UNDP and its partners have successfully built and repaired more than 5,500 houses for affected people after Typhoon No.12 in 2017.

Typhoon Damrey (No.12), which landed in Vietnam on November 4, 2017, caused heavy damage to communities in Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa, and Quang Nam provinces. More than 130,000 houses were badly damaged, of which more than 3,500 houses were destroyed.