By Jagan Chapagain, DEVEX
Red Cross staff and volunteers in Vietnam help fortify windows and roofs in Hoa Hai ward, Ngu Hanh district of Da Nang city. Photo by: IFRC
Vietnam had a lucky escape as Typhoon Haiyan weakened after having smashed through several cities in the Philippines and merely grazed the country.
But for 88 million Vietnamese, the storm is just the latest climate-related phenomenon that highlights the vulnerabilities of many communities, and we would like to share ways donors can address these weaknesses.
Vietnam is a country of increasing economic prosperity, with its gross domestic product growing at an annual average of 7.3 percent over the last few decades. But these statistics mean little to a family with a unsellable crop after Typhoon Wutip destroyed their rice fields barely six weeks ago.
This story — just one of many from families being helped by the Vietnam Red Cross following that calamity in October — demonstrate how easily a population pulling its way out of hardship can be plunged back into poverty by the force of a single weather disturbance.
More typhoons and other natural disasters will inevitably affect Vietnam, and though economic progress is being made, we must not be complacent and assume the authorities will be able to cope with the multiple natural emergencies that strike the country each year.
As human beings, we cannot fail to be touched by the immediate suffering of others. The outpouring of sympathy and donations to the victims of Haiyan in the Philippines is a clear reflection of our collective conscience. But we also need to see beyond the media spotlight of the crisis and ensure that the urgent needs of other disaster-prone countries, such as Vietnam, do not fade into the shadows.
Read the full story by Jagan Chapagain from DEVEX.
