AusAID helps coastal residents adapt to climate change

An internationally-funded climate change response project in the Mekong Delta province Tien Giang has proved effective, providing local authorities and residents with a fundamental understanding of the issue.

An internationally-funded climate change response project in the Mekong Delta province Tien Giang has proved effective, providing local authorities and residents with a fundamental understanding of the issue. 

The “partnership for equitable resilience to the impacts of climate change of the coastal communities in Vietnam” (PRC) project is geared towards Vietnamese coastal provinces that are affected by poverty, making them highly vulnerable to climate change. 

The VND10.8 billion (around US$513,000 project, financed by Oxfam and the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), aims to improve the capacity of Vietnam’s most vulnerable citizens, especially women and children, to adapt to climate change. 

During the 2012-2015 period, around 1,000 households in ten communes in Go Cong Tay and Tan Phu Dong districts were provided access to loans of up to VND5 million (US$238) to develop their own businesses, with a focus on being resilient to climate change. 

Additionally, the project also benefitted ov er 10,000 local households by providing training. And consultations. 

The project’s Deputy Director Nguyen Thien Phap said the province aims for over 80% of the total community population to have fundamental knowledge of climate change adaptation by the end of 2015.