The Mekong River Basin is home to approximately 60 million people and is  second to
the Amazon River Basin in terms of its rich plant and animal diversity. The majority of
the  Mekong  Basin’s  inhabitants  are  poor  fishers  and  farmers,  who  rely  on  the  annual
floods  to  provide  favorable  conditions  for  rice  growth  and  productive  fisheries.  The
flood season spans between June and November and although local populations have
learnt to adapt and live with floods, the immediate tasks of the  provincial and district
authorities are still to ensure people’s safety and protection of property and livelihoods.

Most  of  the  socio-economic  activities  in  the  Mekong  Delta,  from  transportation  of
supplies to harvesting of crops, require use of the Mekong River’s complex network of
waterways and tributaries. The challenge for the provincial authorities during the flood
season  is  to  maintain  daily  activities  and  use  of  the  river  for  inhabitants,  whilst
ensuring continued safety in higher and more hazardous water levels.  In order to meet
this  challenge  the  authorities  need  to  adequately  prepare  search  and  rescue  forces  to
respond  to  possible  incidents  and  mobilize  the  necessary  equipment,  personnel  and
funds to support this. Many drowning cases in the recent past have been children who
cannot swim and have been left unattended while parents are forced to go in search of
work  further  a  field,  due  to  the  floods.  One  of  the  roles  played  by  the  Provincial  Red
Cross  in  disaster  preparedness  activity  includes  assisting  the  PCFSC  and  DCFSC  to
create a pool of trained search and rescue volunteers to address this issue.

Under  Component  4  of  the  Mekong  River  Commission’s  (MRC)  Flood  Management
and  Mitigation  Program  (FMMP),  the  Asian  Disaster  Preparedness  Centre  is  working
together  with  funding  support  from  GTZ  on  the  project  ‘Flood  Emergency
Management  Strengthening’  (FEMS),  implemented  in  two  districts  of  An  Giang  and
Dong  Thap  Province,  Vietnam.  Under  this  project  the  capacities  of  provincial  and
district  authorities  as  well  as  local  disaster  management  authorities,  are  being
strengthened  to  implement  their  annual  provincial  and  district  Flood  and  Storm
Control  Plans.  Smaller  sub-projects  have  been  carried  out  to  increase  community
resilience  to  flooding  and  enable  people  to  better  prepare  for  and  cope  with  floods.
These  priority  sub-  projects  have  been  targeted  at  reducing  the  risks  of  the  most
vulnerable  and  have  included  a  Swimming  Universalization  program  for  school
children,  establishment  of  Emergency  Kindergartens  and  provision  of  Search  and
Rescue training.