The organization has urgently dispatched 80,000 water purification tablets for the Centre of Disease Control in Thai Nguyen province, and 4,000 liters of water to Lao Cai Provincial Hospital to ensure drinking water supply for 800 people.
In the coming days, it will deliver water purification tablets, water tanks, ceramic filters, hand sanitizers, and soap to government partners to be distributed to households, schools and healthcare facilities in Yen Bai and Lao Cai Provinces.
“UNICEF is committed to urgently providing sustained support to the Government of Vietnam to ensure children and families have access to essential services,” said Silvia Danailov, UNICEF Vietnam Representative.
“We have already started to deliver life-saving support and are mobilizing resources to address the massive needs. Too many children have had their access to essential services like clean water, sanitation, healthcare, and education cut off, and swift action to restore these lifelines is urgently needed. The devastation caused by the typhoon is a tragic reminder of the disproportionate impact extreme weather events, intensified by climate change, have on children.”
According to UNICEF, nearly 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, Ha Noi, Thai Binh, Hai Duong, Hoa Binh, Thai Nguyen, and Phu Tho provinces.
Yagi ravaged 26 northern provinces, leaving 324 people dead or missing, including 24 children. It has damaged an estimated 141,469 homes, 550 health facilities, and 805 schools, while around 400,000 homes lack access to safe water. Approximately two million children have been left without access to education, psychosocial support, and school feeding programmes.
National authorities have issued a warning for continued heavy rain, with flash floods and landslides still devastating villages and communities in the northern provinces of the country which are home to a large number of vulnerable communities, including ethnic minorities.
UNICEF is mobilizing resources to ensure emergency aid is urgently provided. An initial US$11 million is urgently required to be able to deliver on its mandate to assist the most vulnerable children. As the full impact of the typhoon unfolds, additional resources will be critical to meeting the urgent needs of children and families in the affected regions.