Flood relief: Timely, practical, right people, right time

To know what people affected by storms and floods need most, relief teams should contact through official channels such as the Vietnam Fatherland Front and the Red Cross.

“Love others as you love yourself” is a precious tradition of our nation, especially after each natural disaster or enemy attack. However, to achieve the highest efficiency, relief must meet the criteria of “fast, feasible, timely, focused, key, and directly on the affected subjects” according to the content of Resolution No. 143/NQ-CP of the Government .

Timely, practical, right person, right time

On September 17, 2024, the Government issued Resolution No. 143/NQ-CP on key tasks and solutions to urgently overcome the consequences of storm No. 3, quickly stabilize the people's situation, promote the recovery of production and business, actively promote economic growth, and control inflation well.

The Government's viewpoint is that support policies and solutions must be fast, feasible, timely, effective, focused, and direct to affected subjects; procedures, processes, and conditions for benefiting must be simple; all resources must be mobilized, managed, and allocated reasonably, preventing loss, waste, and negativity, and ensuring publicity and transparency.

The goal is to protect people's lives, safety and health first and foremost; ensure social security, and soon restore social activities. The beneficiaries are people, workers, disadvantaged people, business households, cooperatives, and enterprises in areas affected by storm No. 3 (also known as "super storm Yagi"), floods, landslides, and landslides.

The general principle of disaster relief is like that, but what are the specific measures?

According to Mr. Tran Sy Pha, Head of the Social Work - Disaster Management Department (Vietnam Red Cross Society), to know what people affected by storms and floods need most, relief teams should contact through official channels such as the Vietnam Fatherland Front and the Red Cross Society because these organizations have quite accurate and detailed statistics on the damage situation and the most urgent needs of the affected areas.

Volunteers travel by boat to provide support to people in Cuong 2 village, Xuan Hoa commune, Bao Yen district, Lao Cai province. (Photo: Phung Nam Suong/VNA)

Reality shows that individual, spontaneous charity activities often lead to the phenomenon of “water flowing to low places” – relief supplies do not reach the right address, where transportation is convenient, many groups come, where transportation is difficult, very few, or even no groups can come. The press has spoken out about “rescuing relief supplies” because supplies are stagnant and damaged.

What to support is a lingering question that has not had a satisfactory answer for many years.

A reporter from Vietnam News Agency reported the story in Bao Yen district (Lao Cai province), but the general meaning for the general relief situation is "too much instant noodles, not meeting actual needs."

Mr. Dam Van Hoang, Commander of the Military Command of Xuan Hoa Commune (Bao Yen District) said that out of more than 1,800 households with more than 9,000 people, 41 households suffered complete damage to their houses and property, 158 households had their houses severely damaged, all families are currently in great difficulty and need despite the local government's great efforts to provide relief. People are in dire need of fish sauce, salt, MSG, toothpaste, laundry detergent, rice, etc. to maintain their daily lives. However, the relief teams brought mainly instant noodles, bread and milk to the area, in excessive quantities, causing waste and not meeting actual needs.

Transporting relief goods to people in flooded areas in Quang Vinh ward, Thai Nguyen city. (Photo: Hoang Nguyen/VNA)

According to Mr. Dang Cong Quang of the Fatherland Front Committee of Hoa Phong Commune, Hoa Vang District, Da Nang City - a locality that has suffered many floods, any support is valuable, however, after each natural disaster, every family needs to buy again from dishes, laundry detergent, clothes, books, even televisions, refrigerators, materials to repair their houses. Therefore, people really need money to restore their lives, especially workers and poor laborers.

Timing is very important in providing relief to storm and flood victims.

When the storm has passed for more than 10 days and the water has receded, hunger relief is no longer the top priority but needs to be shifted to reconstruction relief. What people in the storm and flood areas in the North need most now is money and means to help them stabilize their lives, study, and produce. If we have not approached in advance and do not know the real needs of the people in the area we are targeting, then cash support is the most practical and effective. Clothing is currently the most donated and easiest to support, but in fact it has little use value, except for warm clothes, although the selection, packaging, and transportation require a lot of effort and time.

Initiatives and proposals that need to be researched and replicated

The Food Safety Department (Ministry of Health) recommends that organizations and individuals providing food relief prioritize donating prepackaged food, food with a long shelf life, and vitamins and digestive enzymes to support the health of children and the elderly in storm and flood areas.

According to the Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, the National Volunteer Center in coordination with the Emergency Rescue Information Network has operated the emergency relief hotline 18006132 since September 12. This is a free hotline, with 200 volunteers on duty around the clock to receive calls for relief from people; receive information and coordinate relief resources from individuals and groups.

Relief shipments arrive for flood victims in Lao Cai. (Photo: Hoang Hieu/VNA)

The bridge for free transportation of storm and flood relief goods was first established after storm No. 3 and is expected to operate for 30 days with the participation of the Vietnam Automobile Transport Association and many transport enterprises. Transport enterprises registering to provide free cargo transport vehicles should contact the Organizing Committee's phone number 0912.000416. Individuals and organizations in need of free vehicles for relief goods should contact the hotline numbers 0901.514.799 and 0914.799.709.

Mr. Nguyen Trung Thanh, Deputy Head of the Social Protection Policy Department under the Social Protection Department (Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs), proposed establishing a rapid response apparatus to respond to emergencies. It could be a model of the government, a system from local to grassroots levels, in which organizations and individuals contribute. Voluntary relief from individuals, although also very important, needs to be consulted and divided specifically, to avoid a situation where a village with only 300 people receives thousands of banh chung from charity groups almost at the same time, which cannot be used up and become spoiled.

The Vietnam Road Administration (Ministry of Transport) said that the unit has sent a document requesting exemption of toll fees for relief vehicles when passing through toll stations. To support the transportation of relief goods to areas affected by storms and floods, the Vietnam Road Administration requests units, investors, and enterprises to consider and direct toll stations to exempt road use fees for vehicles transporting relief goods when passing through toll stations until new guidance documents are issued.

The State Bank requires credit institutions to direct their branches and transaction offices to proactively review and summarize the damage caused by storms and floods from customers who are borrowing capital to promptly apply support measures and remove difficulties for customers such as restructuring debt repayment terms; considering reducing interest rates, continuing to provide new loans to restore production and business after the storm. In fact, a number of commercial banks have responded to the above request.

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