Highlights:
- Millions of children in Northern Viet Nam are in urgent need of support after Super Typhoon Yagi, the strongest storm to hit Viet Nam in 30 years, swept through the northern regions of the country on 7 September, causing severe damages, wide-spread flooding, landslides and flash floods. Government reports indicate that 325 people are dead or missing, including 24 children. Approximately 3 million people have no access to safe drinking water and sanitation, causing risk of disease, and 550 health facilities and more than 800 schools have been damaged, with 2 million school children at risk of disruptions to learning and protection.
- The situation continues to worsen in the aftermath of the storm due to the continued heavy rains which are causing landslides, large-scale floods and flash floods, as well as dykes and dams breaking and bridges collapsing. Three provinces have declared a state of emergency and flood evacuation orders have been issued, including for the capital Hanoi.
- The Viet Nam Dyke and Disaster Management Authority (VDDMA) is effectively leading and coordinating the response and working in cooperation with the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Partnership, a coalition of partners including government bodies, UN agencies, INGOs and DRR and humanitarian partners.
- UNICEF is working on the ground as part of the rapid assessment teams consisting of UN agencies and sector members and led by the Government of Viet Nam.
- UNICEF’s key areas of intervention are ensuring life-saving access of children and families to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH); health and nutrition; education, child protection and social protection, including humanitarian cash assistance.
- UNICEF has started the distribution of essential humanitarian supplies, including water purification tablets. As of 12 September, UNICEF provided 80,000 water purification tablets for the Centre of Disease Control in Thai Nguyen province, and 8,000 litres of water to Lao Cai Provincial Hospital. In the coming days, UNICEF will deliver additional water purification tablets, water tanks and ceramic filters which will be distributed by government partners to households, schools and healthcare facilities in the heavily affected Yen Bai and Lao Cai provinces.
- UNICEF estimates that an initial US$ 15 million are required to address critical needs of affected children and families.
Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs
Overview
Millions of children in Northern Viet Nam are in urgent need of support after Super Typhoon Yagi, the strongest storm to hit Viet Nam in 30 years, swept through the country on 7 September, resulting in severe storm damages, widespread flooding, landslides and flash floods. Hundreds of thousands of children have lost their homes and family livelihoods. Typhoon Yagi ravaged 26 northern provinces, leaving 325 people dead or missing, including 24 children. More than 19 million people, including 5.5 million children, live in the hardest-hit provinces, including Lao Cai, Tuyen Quang, Cao Bang, Yen Bai, Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, Hanoi, Thai Binh, Hai Duong, Hoa Binh, Thai Nguyen, and Phu Tho provinces. This includes more than 150,000 children with disabilities in the affected areas. It caused extensive damage to an estimated 188,125 homes, 550 health facilities, and 805 schools, while power and water shortages continue to affect hundreds of thousands of households and public services.
The Government's response to Super Typhoon Yagi is led by the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development. A Steering Committee was established to effectively manage the situation and coordinate efforts, including with international partners. Information about the storm was disseminated via multiple channels, including emergency messaging and broadcast media (65 million phone messages and 67 million Zalo messages were sent to people in the affected areas).
Government efforts are focusing on rescue and life-saving interventions, rapid assessments, and providing shelter, food and basic services, with the support of development and humanitarian partners, including UNICEF.