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Vietnam in top ten countries affected by natural calamities
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VietNamNet Bridge – Southeast Asia is considered as the world’s storm center and Vietnam is among the top ten countries most affected by natural calamities and climate change.

As many as 60 experts from 20 Asian countries and the United Nations met in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue on August 25 to evaluate the impact of natural disasters in the region.

According to the conference, natural calamities in Asia account for nearly 40 percent of global losses caused by natural calamities; this continent accounts for nearly 60 percent. Southeast Asia is the storm center and one of the regions most hit by natural disasters and most vulnerable to climate change. Vietnam is one of ten countries most affected.

Representatives from the World Meteorology Organisation revealed that the agglomeration of carbon dioxide and substances that creates the greenhouse effect has reached its highest level so far. The result is climate change and the increase in number and intensity of storms in the world. The clearest evidence is the drought for two consecutive years in 2009-2010 in Australia, Vietnam and Africa, ice-melting in the two poles, and floods and landslides in China and Pakistan.

A professor of social anthropology noted that Vietnam doesn’t have earthquakes, but complex storms and floods force Vietnam to have long-term strategies on urban and land planning. Research presented at this conference showed that, in India, more modern houses collapsed in earthquakes than houses built by traditional techniques and designs. This is why countries need to share their experience and knowledge to confront natural disasters.

Neil R. Britton, a senior expert on natural disaster risk management from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), remarked that his bank has given top priority to natural disaster control programs and is ready to cooperate with social and non-government organisations.

From 1987 to 2009, ADB disbursed over $9.6 billion in aid to Asian countries to cope with natural disasters, including 19 percent in relief aid, 45 percent in control programs and 36 percent in resettlement. The biggest development bank in Asia has funded 11 relevant projects worth over $ 428 million for Vietnam during this period.

The three-day workshop co-sponsored by Hue Economic University, the University of Delhi, India, and the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters, Belgium, is part of the Microdis project, short for “micro-analysis of disasters.”

The project aims to strengthen prevention, mitigation and preparedness strategies to reduce the impact of natural disasters on health, social and economic developments in Asia.



PV