Vietnam's central region suffers annually from a torrent of violent weather but despite gallant efforts to rebuild lives, it seems there is always another disaster just around the corner. When natural disasters strike, the country mourns together and works to rebuild communities. But sadly, the heroic efforts are often short-lived.

Ten years has passed since the historic floods of November 1999 that killed more than 1,000 central region residents and caused VND5.4 trillion (US$292 million) in damages.

Nguyen Ty Nien, former head of the Department

GLIDE no TC-2006-000175-PHL

Period covered by this Final Report: October 2006 to December 2008;

Appeal target (current): CHF 9,878,867 (USD 9.67 million or EUR 6.28 million);

Final Appeal coverage: 98%;

Appeal history:

- Preliminary emergency appeal launched on 2 October 2006 for CHF 5,704,261 (USD 4,563,408 or EUR 3,610,292) to assist 126,000 beneficiaries for three months.

- Appeal revised on 19 October 2006 to update plans and extend the operation timeframe to nine months.

- Appeal re-launched on 4 December 2006

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing a $25.5 million supplementary financing to an existing emergency assistance loan to Viet Nam for the rehabilitation of rural infrastructure severely damaged by typhoons and storms in 2005.

The project was initially approved in 2006 by ADB with a loan of $50.97 million. However, high inflation has increased the cost of civil works, materials, and labor. Additional damage to rural infrastructure caused by typhoons in 2006 and 2007 has contributed to significant cost overruns. The government initially tried to address

Help the Red Cross help people. It's your chance to make things better.

The world is still reeling from the shocking news about an estimated 63,000 to 100,000 people killed in Myanmar, and hundreds of thousands of others-as much as a million people if U.N. World Food Program estimates are correct--left homeless.

The Red Cross and other aid agencies are now on the move to help the victims of the Myanmar typhoon disaster.

In the Philippines, the general public usually associates the PNRC with blood drives. While the PNRC does regularly

Period covered by this Final Report: October 2006 to December 2007;

Appeal target (current): CHF 1,350,061 million (USD 1,332,288 million or EUR 857,688);

Final Appeal coverage: 100%

Summary: Viet Nam Red Cross (VNRC) played an important role in supporting the government of Viet Nam in assisting the people made most vulnerable after the Xangsane and Durian typhoons that hit the central and the south of the country in October and December of 2006 respectively.

Following a needs assessment done jointly with the national disaster management working group (DMWG), the VNRC carried

Period covered by this Ops Update: 1 June 2007 - 31 January 2008;

Appeal target (current): CHF 9,878,867 (USD 9.67 million or EUR 6.28 million); Appeal coverage: 100%; <click here to go directly to the interim financial report

Appeal history:

- Preliminary emergency appeal launched on 2 October 2006 for CHF 5,704,261 (USD 4,563,408 or EUR 3,610,292) to assist 126,000 beneficiaries for three months.

- Appeal revised on 19 October 2006 to update plans and extend the operation timeframe to nine months.

- Appeal re-launched on 4 December 2006

Pledges & contributions

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is pleased to acknowledge the receipt of one new contribution of $500,000 (as of 27 July) made by China. OCHA encourages all member states to turn their pledges into contributions as soon as possible.

Country highlights

In July 2007, the Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC) approved $15.12 million in grants from the CERF's window for rapid response. Details on each allocation can be found below, or on the CERF website at http://cerf.un.org.

The Federation's mission is to improve the lives of vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity. It is the world's largest humanitarian organization its millions of volunteers are active in over 185 countries.

In Brief

THIS REVISED EMERGENCY APPEAL SEEKS CHF 1,325,938 (USD 1,078,036 OR EUR 800,534) IN CASH OR SERVICES TO SUPPORT THE VIET NAM RED CROSS IN ASSISTING 60,750 BENEFICIARIES FOR SIX MONTHS.

Appeal history:

Appeal revised on 22 December 2006 for CHF 4,210,045 (3.49 million or EUR 2.64 million) in cash, kind or services

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government (HKSARG) released $19.88 million from the Disaster Relief Fund to provide immediate relief to people in distress outside Hong Kong in the year ending March 31, 2007.

In response to appeals made by governments and international relief organisations, grants were disbursed for early relief of victims in places outside Hong Kong hard-hit by major disasters.

For 2006-07, assistance was given through 11 relief projects operated by six relief organisations to help needy victims. The six relief organisations