JICA's first relief shipment arrives in Vietnam on October 13. Photo by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment
Several international organisations, including Samaritan’s Purse, JICA and the AHA Centre, have provided both financial and material assistance to flood-affected communities in Vietnam, supplying essential household items, water filters, blankets and multi-purpose roofing sheets.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment said on October 13 that within five days of issuing an appeal for support, multiple international partners had delivered relief supplies and pledged further assistance to help Vietnam recover from the recent natural disasters.
Samaritan’s Purse sent household items, kitchen utensils and personal hygiene kits to 1,500 families in Ha Tinh and 800 in Tuyen Quang, along with 4,000 boxes of instant noodles, 4,000 boxes of bottled water and 4,000 cans of sausage for flood-affected residents in Lang Son.
UNICEF plans to send 4,500 boxes of bottled water and 600 plastic water tanks to Lang Son or Cao Bang.
Save the Children donated VND 500 million (approximately USD 20,000) to support families with children in Ha Tinh. At the same time, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) provided 4,000 bottles of water and 350 sets of essential items.
Australia contributed 756 personal hygiene kits, 320 kitchen sets, 30 blankets and 756 home repair toolkits to Bac Ninh Province. The supplies are expected to arrive at Noi Bai Airport on October 14.
The AHA Centre will deliver 2,800 household kits, 2,000 hygiene kits and 3,176 kitchen sets worth USD 216,000 to Cao Bang next week.
Japan’s International Cooperation Agency (JICA) donated 40 water filtration devices, 5,100 blankets, 1,000 plastic containers and 50 plastic sheets to residents in Bac Ninh.
ActionAid is completing procedures to provide VND 480 million (approximately USD 19,000) in aid to Tuyen Quang, including VND 330 million in cash assistance for 110 households and VND 150 million worth of school and household supplies for local students.
Additionally, relief shipments from Russia are en route to Noi Bai Airport. Canada has pledged USD 50,000 through a non-governmental organisation, while the US Embassy, the European Union and Meta (Facebook) are also preparing assistance packages to support disaster-affected communities in Vietnam.
A report by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment on October 9 noted that over the past two and a half months, Vietnam had endured five storms making landfall. The most recent two, Bualoi and Matmo, triggered historic flooding and widespread devastation.
Since the start of the year, natural disasters have left 238 people dead or missing and 367 injured. More than 258,000 houses have been damaged or unroofed, while over 555,000 hectares of rice fields, crops and plantations have been flooded or destroyed.
Total economic losses nationwide are estimated at more than VND 33.5 trillion (approximately USD 1.36 billion), which is estimated to cause the country's GDP to fall by 0.2 per cent this year.