Attachments
Foreword by the Resident Coordinator
In recent months, Viet Nam has faced one of the most challenging typhoon seasons in decades. A succession of powerful storms and tropical depressions has battered the northern and central provinces, bringing torrential rains, devastating floods and widespread landslides. These disasters have disrupted lives and livelihoods, destroyed homes, damaged vital infrastructure and placed immense pressure on essential services across multiple provinces.
The cascading impact of these events has once again revealed both the fragility and the resilience of communities confronting the growing consequences of climate change. From the mountains of Cao Bằng and Lạng Sơn to the plains of Tuyên Quang, Phú Thọ, Thái Nguyên and Bắc Ninh, thousands of families have been forced to evacuate or rebuild amid recurring shocks that strike before recovery from previous ones can be completed.
I commend the Government of Viet Nam and in particular the Viet Nam Disaster and Dyke Management Authority under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment for its leadership, rapid mobilization, and coordination in responding to these multiple emergencies. The Government’s decisive actions in search and rescue, relief distribution, and damage assessment have saved countless lives and laid the groundwork for a coherent and inclusive recovery effort.
This Joint Response Plan represents a continuation of the strong partnership between the Government, the United Nations, the Red Cross, and national and international partners. Building on the joint rapid needs assessments co-led by VDDMA and the UN, the plan identifies the most urgent humanitarian and recovery needs of the affected population, while setting a course toward long-term resilience and climate-adaptive recovery.
As we collectively support the affected provinces, we are reminded that every crisis presents an opportunity to strengthen systems and capacities for the future. The lessons from this year’s response reaffirm the importance of investing in risk-informed development, anticipatory action, and disaster risk reduction, ensuring that recovery today builds the resilience of tomorrow.
Our response must therefore go beyond meeting immediate humanitarian needs. It must also empower local institutions, strengthen community preparedness, and promote inclusive recovery that leaves no one behind, especially women, children, older persons, and people with disabilities. This is the essence of resilience: the ability not only to withstand shocks, but to adapt and thrive in their aftermath.
I wish to express my sincere appreciation to all partners, Government agencies, provincial authorities, the UN Country Team, the Viet Nam Red Cross, civil society and the donor community, for their tireless efforts and solidarity. Your continued support is essential to ensure that life-saving interventions are sustained and that recovery efforts are adequately resourced.
Ms. Pauline Tamesis
United Nations Resident Coordinator, Viet Nam
Disclaimer
- UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
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