Viet Nam News
The Vietnamese government, along with the United Nations and partners are appealing to the international community to support a $48.5 million emergency response plan launched yesterday to address the worsening drought in the country.
This picture taken on March 8, 2016 shows a boy looking for fish in a nearly dry canal in the Long Phu district in the southern Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang. Vietnam is suffering its worst drought in nearly a century with salinisation hitting farmers especially hard in the crucial southern Mekong delta, experts said. (Photo: STR/AFP/Getty Images)
The drought that has hit the southern and central regions of Việt Nam has created water shortages for about two million people, and 1.1 million people are in need of food aid, according to a joint rapid assessment undertaken by the Government, UN and non-governmental organisations last month.
More than 60,000 women and children are already malnourished, and about 1,75 million people have lost their livelihoods as the drought worsens.
In the Mekong Delta, prolonged drought and the decrease in groundwater levels have resulted in the most extensive saltwater intrusion in 90 years, affecting more than 400,000ha of crops with varying degrees of productivity loss. Another 25,900 hectares have not been planted at all.
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Đức Phát spoke at the emergency response plan launch, saying that this was the first time Việt Nam had called on international aid to respond to the crisis.
Vietnam is asking $48.5 million in emergency aid to help combat the drought. (Photo:STR/AFP/Getty Images)
Phát informed participants that China was releasing more water from its dam between April 21 and May 31, with about 1,500 cubic meters per second flowing south. It was expected that the extra water would arrive in Việtnam in 20 days, partly helping to relieve its thirst.
The current El Niño event is one of the strongest on record, affecting an estimated 60 million people across Africa, Asia, Central and South America and the Pacific. Its impact and the possibility of a severe La Niña to follow are likely to worsen the lives and livelihoods of millions world-wide until at least the end of this year.
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