Decision No. 379/QD-TTg 2021 the National Strategy on natural disaster prevention through 2030

DECISION

Approving the National Strategy on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control through 2030, with a vision
toward 2050^[1]

THE PRIME MINISTER

Pursuant to the June 19, 2015 Law on Organization of the Government; and the November 22, 2019 Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Organization of the Government and the Law on Organization of Local Administration;

Pursuant to the June 19, 2013 Law on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control;

Pursuant to the November 29, 2006 Law on Dikes;

Pursuant to the June 19, 2017 Law on Hydraulic Work;

Pursuant to the November 23, 2015 Law on Hydro-meteorology;

Pursuant to the November 24, 2017 Planning Law;

Pursuant to the June 21, 2012 Law on Water Resources;

At the proposal of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development,

DECIDES:

Article 1. To approve the National Strategy on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control through 2030, with a vision toward 2050, with the following principal contents:

I. VIEWPOINTS

1. Natural disaster prevention and control constitute an important mission of the whole political system, a responsibility as well as an obligation of the entire people and society, in which the State plays the leading role, organizations and individuals take the initiative, and communities support and help one another. To implement the motto of “four on-the-spot” (on-the-spot command, on-the-spot forces, on-the-spot vehicles and supplies, and on-the-spot logistics), uphold the proactive role at the grassroots level and responsibilities of heads of agencies and organizations.

2. Natural disaster prevention and control consist of three stages: prevention, response and recovery, in which proactive prevention is the main task.

3. Natural disaster prevention and control shall be directed at managing and preventing risks according to basins, inter-regions and inter-sectors. The content of natural disaster prevention and control shall be incorporated into national and local socio-economic development strategies, master plans and plans, and sectoral development strategies, master plans and plans, which must fully take into account the impacts of natural disasters and limit the increase in natural disaster risks.

4. Natural disaster prevention and control shall be implemented through joint efforts by the State and people, efficiently utilizing the State’s resources and tapping all resources and responsibilities of communities, organizations, enterprises and individuals at home and abroad.

5. Natural disaster prevention and control activities shall be carried out with the application of advanced technologies, while inheriting and upholding traditional experiences and bringing into full play international cooperation.

II. GUIDING PRINCIPLES

1. Ensuring proactivity in prevention; promptness and effectiveness in response; expeditious recovery, sustainable restoration and better rebuilding.

2. Synchronously implementing various measures, harmoniously combining construction and non-construction solutions; attaching importance to natural disaster risk management, climate change adaptation and environmental protection. Promoting the application of advanced science and technology in combination with traditional experiences.

3. Investing in natural disaster prevention and control constitutes a factor important to ensuring sustainable socio-economic development. The State shall prioritize allocation of resources for natural disaster prevention and control activities nationwide; local administrations shall proactively arrange resources for natural disaster prevention and control activities in their localities while agencies, organizations, enterprises, households and citizens are responsible and self-conscious to take appropriate measures to prevent and control natural disasters and reduce natural disaster risks for themselves under the guidance of competent state agencies. The State shall create favorable conditions for and encourage organizations, enterprises and people to participate in natural disaster prevention and control activities.

4. Socio-economic development activities must suit nature, limit negative impacts on nature, and not increase risks and give rise to new natural disasters.

5. Carrying out natural disaster prevention and control activities based on task assignment, power decentralization and close coordination among related forces, and in proportion to the level of natural disaster risk, while ensuring realization of international commitments on natural disaster prevention and control which Vietnam has acceded to or signed.

III. OBJECTIVES

1. General objectives

To proactively prevent and control natural disasters, adapt to climate change, minimize the losses of human lives and property of people and the State; to step by  step build a country capable of managing natural disaster risks, communities and society safe to natural disasters, thus facilitating steady socio-economic development and maintaining security and national defense.

2. Specific objectives up to 2030

a/ To reduce losses caused by natural disasters, focusing on ensuring safety for people during storms and floods, reduce 50% of losses of human lives due to flashfloods and landslides compared to the 2011-2020 period and keep economic losses due to natural disasters below the level of the 2011-2020 period, not exceeding 1.2% of GDP.

b/ The system of laws and policies on natural disaster prevention and control will be completed, ensuring synchrony and consistency, forming a complete legal corridor for the management, direction, command and implementation of natural disaster prevention and control, salvage and rescue activities.

c/ Organizations and forces engaged in natural disaster prevention and control work shall be strengthened to become streamlined and professional, effective and efficient; vehicles, equipment and facilities for natural disaster prevention and control and search and rescue will be advanced and modern on par with those used in the top countries in the region.

d/ To strive for 100% of governmental agencies at all levels, organizations and households to be provided with sufficient natural disaster prevention and control information and skills; the natural disaster prevention and control forces to be trained and fully provided with necessary knowledge and equipment; and all organizations, households and individuals to meet the requirements under the “four on-the-spot” motto.

dd/ To raise natural disaster monitoring, supervision, forecasting, warning and analysis capacity equal to that of the top countries in the region.

e/ To build synchronous, interconnected and real-time databases serving natural disaster prevention and control direction and management; 100% of national-, regional- and provincial-level natural disaster prevention and control direction and management agencies will complete their natural disaster prevention and control databases; 100% of areas key and critical to natural disaster prevention and control will be installed with monitoring and supervision systems; 100% of fishing ships operating in inshore and offshore seas will be installed with monitoring and communication systems.

g/ People will be protected safely against natural disasters, especially storms, floods, landslides and flashfloods. The resilience of infrastructure facilities and natural disaster prevention and control structures, especially the system of dikes, reservoirs, dams and storm shelters for ships, will be improved, ensuring safety against natural disasters according to their designs without increasing natural disaster risks.

IV. TASKS AND SOLUTIONS

1. General tasks and solutions:

a/ To improve the system of laws and policies on natural disaster prevention and control to be synchronous, consistent, transparent and feasible, focusing on:

- Reviewing and completing the system of legal documents on natural disaster prevention and control and other regulations relating to natural disaster prevention, control and recovery such as the laws on dikes, hydraulic work, water resources, investment, public investment, construction, land, rescue and salvage, donation and relief, etc., ensuring synchronization and consistency, forming a complete legal environment suitable to reality and meeting the requirements of natural disaster prevention and control tasks, especially emergency tasks related to natural disaster response and recovery. At the same time, adding sanctions to ensure law enforcement in natural disaster prevention and control activities.

- Completing the system of national standards and technical regulations, techno-economic norms, regulations on satisfaction of requirements of natural disaster prevention and control, especially water drainage standards in urban areas, and prevention and control of storms, floods, inundation and erosion of public infrastructure facilities and structures as well as private homes.

- Studying and completing mechanisms and policies relating to natural disaster prevention, control and recovery, especially mobilizing budget and non-budget funding sources for natural disaster prevention and control, and encouraging enterprises, organizations and individuals to research and  invest in natural disaster prevention and control; operating natural disaster prevention and control funds; implementing regulations on natural disaster risk insurance; and financial payment and protection and recovery responsibilities for activities that increase natural disaster risks; supporting the stabilization of people’s livelihoods and production affected by natural disasters.

b/ To raise awareness about natural disasters and natural disaster risks, and strengthen community-based natural disaster risk management, focusing on:

- Disseminating information about laws, mechanisms and policies on and relating to natural disaster prevention and control; guiding and popularizing natural disaster prevention and control skills, especially skills to respond to big, complicated natural disasters, for local authorities, people and enterprises to proactively take prevention, control and damage mitigation measures.

- Promoting information and communication, sharing information and data, improving the effectiveness of communication about natural disaster prevention and control; combining traditional methods with technology application suitable to each target group to accurately and quickly transmit information about natural disasters and natural disaster risks to the people, focusing on vulnerable people.

- Further involving people, enterprises, social organizations and communities in the process of formulating strategies, master plans and plans on natural disaster prevention and control, making policies, proposing and implementing natural disaster prevention and control programs, projects and activities, focusing on the involvement of the communities, especially vulnerable groups, in formulating commune-level natural disaster prevention and control plans.

- Building spearhead forces for natural disaster prevention and control and volunteer forces to assist people in natural disaster prevention and control activities at commune level and in enterprises.

- Training, guiding and sharing experiences on natural disaster risk reduction for the communities and people; introducing natural disaster prevention and control knowledge into training curricula and extra-curricular activities at different educational levels; integrating the content of natural disaster prevention and control into awareness-raising and capacity-building communication activities in the communities, and in cultural events at commune and village levels.

c/ To build natural disaster prevention and control and rescue and salvage capacity:

- Organizationally consolidating the natural disaster prevention and control and search and rescue apparatus at all levels: improving the organization and apparatus for natural disaster prevention and control and search and rescue to be streamlined, professional, capable, competent, effective and efficient to direct, command and manage natural disaster prevention and control activities in a timely manner. Building, strengthening and training natural disaster prevention and control, search and rescue forces from central to local levels, including professional and semi-professional forces and volunteers. Step by step building a pool of research and application staff to support natural disaster prevention and control and search and rescue activities. Reviewing and improving the functions, tasks and competence of all-level agencies directing and commanding natural disaster prevention and control and search and rescue; dividing and decentralizing responsibilities of, and defining specific coordination mechanisms among, agencies and forces to ensure timely, consistent, efficient and effective direction of natural disaster prevention and control.

- Building natural disaster forecast and warning capacity: increasing investment in basic research into natural disasters. Updating and digitizing data on hydro-meteorology and environment, and sharing hydro-meteorological information with related national and international agencies. Assessing natural disaster risks, zoning natural disaster risk-prone areas and drawing up natural disaster warning maps. Updating climate change and sea level rise scenarios, making long-term forecasts of natural disasters and water resources, especially for rivers and streams in border areas. Upgrading equipment and technologies for natural disaster monitoring, analysis, forecast and warning, applying advanced forecast technologies, prioritizing quantitative precipitation forecast and flashflood and landslide warning technologies. Investing in, upgrading and modernizing the national network for hydro-meteorological, earthquake and tsunami observation, specialized natural disaster observation, monitoring and supervision systems, especially for storms, rain, floods, flashfloods, inundation, landslides, and riverbank and coastal erosion; promoting the socialization of certain natural disaster observation, monitoring and supervision activities, especially automatic rain gauge systems. Effectively operating the multi-disaster warning system combined with the existing information and communication infrastructure system.

- Investing in building and upgrading physical foundations, vehicles, equipment and supporting tools, especially for national and regional natural disaster response direction and management centers to ensure real-time direction, command and management of natural disaster prevention and control; integrating and synchronizing the databases to serve the analysis, consideration and support for the making of decisions to direct, command and manage natural disaster prevention and control and search and rescue activities.

- Improving the quality of human resources for natural disaster prevention and control: building a natural disaster management training system in association with training and research institutions; organizing training and drills to share experiences, raise professional qualifications and skills for natural disaster prevention and control and search and rescue personnel from central to grassroots levels, attaching importance to training and guiding situation-handling skills for grassroots-level natural disaster prevention and control forces, in connection with building the community-based natural disaster risk management capacity. Attracting high-quality human resources to participate in natural disaster prevention and control and search and rescue activities, forming specialized teams to transfer and apply science and technology to natural disaster prevention, response and recovery.

- Building a natural disaster prevention and control database system, focusing on baseline surveys, updating and digitalizing data on natural disasters, natural disaster-caused damage, natural disaster prevention and control infrastructure systems and facilities, people’s livelihood, and socio-economic situation.

d/ To formulate and complete natural disaster prevention and control master  plans and plans and natural disaster response plans, and integrate the content of natural disaster prevention and control into sectoral and socio-economic development master plans and plans, specifically as follows:

- Formulating master plans on natural disaster prevention and control and hydraulic work, specialized technical master plans on natural disaster prevention and control and hydraulic work and master plans relating to natural disaster prevention and control in association with land use master plans, which are suitable to socio-economic development, natural disaster developments, upstream water use, climate change, and sea level rise. Integrating the content of natural disaster prevention and control into national overall master plans, national sectoral master plans, regional master plans and provincial master plans. Examining and controlling regulations on assurance of natural disaster prevention and control requirements in accordance with the law on natural disaster prevention and control.

- Drawing up natural disaster prevention and control plans of the country, ministries, sectors and localities in accordance with the law on natural disaster prevention and control and in conformity with developments and requirements of natural disaster prevention and control, prioritizing the allocation of state budget funds while mobilizing non-state budget resources for natural disaster prevention and control. Making a plan for integrated flood management in river basins; plans to prevent and combat strong storms, super storms, flashfloods, landslides, drought, seawater intrusion, and riverbank and coastal erosion.

- Developing and updating response plans corresponding to each type of natural disaster and level of natural disaster risk and suitable to recent natural disaster developments, natural disaster characteristics and the response capacity of each locality, organization, enterprise, ministry or sector, attaching importance to plans to respond to strong storms, super typhoons, floods, flashfloods, landslides, riverbank and coastal erosion, inundation, drought, and seawater intrusion. Actively readying forces, supplies, vehicles, equipment and necessities according to natural disaster response plans under the “four on-the-spot” motto. Conducting drills and training according to each response plan; coordinating and combining forces in natural disaster prevention and control, search and rescue; improving on-the-spot response capacity for enterprises, organizations, communities and people, especially in highland, deep-lying, remote, border, island and sea areas.

dd/ To improve resilience and adaptation to natural disasters

- Investing in consolidating and upgrading natural disaster prevention and control structures, focusing on consolidating, upgrading and completely building the system of dikes, reservoirs and dams to ensure proactive flood and storm prevention and control according to their designs. Supplementing and upgrading water storage and drainage systems, preventing inundation caused by heavy rains, floods and tides, especially in major urban centers; and water source control facilities to prevent and control drought and seawater intrusion. Building and consolidating riverbank and coastal erosion prevention and control structures in areas where complicated landslides occur, seriously threatening dikes, residential areas and key infrastructure facilities. Building and upgrading storm shelters for ships according to approved master plans, which are linked with logistics services and fisheries communication networks, including those on islands. Accelerating the planting of breakwater trees to protect dikes, planting of watershed protection forests and coastal protection forests to reach the law-specified forest coverage rate and improve forest quality. Upgrading information and communication systems to be uninterrupted to all localities and people across the country and ships operating at sea, with priority given to the expansion of satellite earth stations, mobile communication equipment and via-satellite fishing vessel management system.

- Upgrading infrastructure to proactively adapt to natural disasters and climate change: researching, building and widely applying appropriate housing models for proactive natural disaster prevention and control; guiding people to build houses, adopting appropriate policies to support poor and disadvantaged households to build houses safely standing against natural disasters. Construction and upgrading of infrastructure facilities must adhere to the principles of compliance with master plans and proactive response to natural disasters according to zoning of natural disaster risk-prone areas, without increasing natural disaster risks.

- Implementing measures to ensure safety for people living in natural disaster-prone areas: rearranging the population in natural disaster-prone areas, especially those facing high risks of flashfloods, landslides, riverbank and coastal erosion, in combination with the building of a new countryside; in places where people cannot be relocated yet, to install monitoring, supervision and warning systems to promptly evacuate them and minimize risks when natural disasters occur, in combination with building natural disaster prevention and control structures. Guiding and supporting the construction of private homes and community houses concurrently serving the purpose of evacuation to ensure safety against natural disasters. Building and upgrading essential infrastructure facilities for the purpose of evacuation in areas prone to frequent storms, floods, inundation, flashfloods and landslides.

e/ Science and technology: researching and applying science and technology to raise the effectiveness of natural disaster prevention and control, focusing on research and application of advanced technology, digital technology, automation and remote sensing in natural disaster observation, monitoring, supervision, forecast and warning, management and operation of natural disaster prevention and control structures, and natural disaster prevention and control direction and management work. Developing technology applications for fishing vessel management and monitoring. Researching and applying new materials and advanced technologies in the construction of natural disaster prevention and control structures which are sustainable and environmentally friendly. Studying the restructuring of production, plant varieties and livestock breeds of high economic value suitable to natural conditions and natural disaster characteristics of each region and area, and adaptable to climate change.

g/ International cooperation: strengthening cooperation with countries, territories, development partners, donors, and scientific research institutions to share information and experiences, transfer and apply new technologies in natural disaster prevention and control, especially in natural disaster forecast and warning, natural disaster risk management, rescue, salvage, and management of water resources for transboundary river systems, ensuring safety for ships against storms, and at the same time taking advantage of international assistance for natural disaster prevention and control and climate change adaptation. Actively and proactively participating in natural disaster prevention and control cooperation mechanisms, with priority given to cooperation mechanisms of the Mekong River Commission, regional and global fora on natural disaster mitigation toward the goal of solving the problems of cross-border natural disasters. Fully and responsibly implementing treaties, international agreements and cooperation agreements that Vietnam has signed, such as the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, and the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response.

h/ Resources: prioritizing allocation of resources from the state budget, ODA loans and foreign concessional loans, efficiently using natural disaster prevention and control funds and mobilizing social resources for natural disaster prevention and  control, search and rescue activities, focusing on raising the natural disaster forecast and warning capacity; thoroughly handling critical dike sections from grade III to special grade; ensuring safety for reservoirs and dams; preventing and controlling drought and seawater intrusion; relocating the population from dangerous areas in emergency circumstances; handling riverbank and coastal erosion; building storm shelters for ships; upgrading physical foundations, equipment and vehicles to serve the direction and management of natural disaster prevention and control, rescue and salvage, especially those of national- and provincial-level advisory agencies; implementing state-level key programs on natural disaster prevention and control. Accelerating power delegation and decentralization to ensure timely mobilization of resources to meet the requirements of natural disaster emergency response and recovery.

2. Tasks and solutions for each region

a/ The Northern and North Central Delta region: To implement solutions to thoroughly prevent and control floods, and proactively prevent and control storms, inundation and drought:

- Ensuring safety of the dike system according to design:

+ Strengthening the dike management and maintenance work. Consolidating, upgrading and completing the river dike system, especially dikes of grade III to special grade in the system of Red, Thai Binh, Ma and Ca rivers. Planting breakwater trees to protect the dikes.

+ Effectively regulating reservoirs in river systems to proactively divert floods for downstream areas, and at the same time preventing and controlling drought and seawater intrusion.

+ Dredging riverbeds, strictly managing the exploitation and use of river banks and river beds, clearing obstructions to ensure the flood drainage space; studying and building works at the Duong river estuary in order to stabilize the reasonable distribution rate between Red river and Thai Binh river to limit the increase of flood pressure on the Thai Binh river dike system.

+ For coastal areas: Reviewing national standards on sea dike design to proactively respond to and prevent risks caused by storms in the context of impacts of climate change and sea level rise. Consolidating and completing the sea dike system, increasing the planting of breakwater trees and coastal protection forests. Implementing measures to improve the safety of sea dikes to proactively respond to the impacts of climate change and sea level rise.

- Developing, reviewing and conducting drills to respond to scenarios of dike break, dam failure, major flood, inundation and emergency flood water of reservoirs, strong storms and super typhoons, focusing on ensuring safety for dikes and people living in riverside and coastal areas.

- Building, consolidating and upgrading hydraulic-work systems and water drainage structures in urban areas, ensuring flood control, drought control and water supply, strengthening storm shelters for ships according to master plans.

- Strictly managing the exploitation of riverbed sand and gravel, especially for large rivers, in order to limit degradation, riverbed lowering, riverbank erosion and seawater intrusion and impacts on transport and hydraulic work.

b/ The Northern and North Central mountainous region

To proactively prevent flashfloods, landslides and inundation; to cope with and adapt to hail and cold:

- Strengthening forecasts and warnings to reduce damage caused by flashfloods, landslides and inundation: improving the quality of quantitative precipitation and local rain and flood forecast; building and strengthening the rain, flashflood, landslide and inundation monitoring, supervision and warning systems. Zoning natural disaster risk-prone areas, making natural disaster warning maps detailed to commune level, especially for areas with high risks of flashfloods and landslides; building structures to prevent and control flashfloods and landslides in key and critical areas.

- Proactively relocating people from unsafe areas along rivers, streams and hillsides with high risks of flashfloods, landslides, flow obstruction, and areas frequently deeply flooded to areas suitable to their living practices, where their livelihoods can be secured. Organizing the development, drill and implementation of emergency evacuation plans and recovery plans when dangerous situations hit areas where it is impossible to relocate people, according to the “four on-the-spot” motto.

- Strictly managing the construction of houses and infrastructure facilities, especially residential areas and transport works, ending the building of houses and works in areas prone to landslides and encroachment upon rivers and streams, the leveling of steep slopes for construction of buildings and houses and illegal mining, thus increasing natural disaster risks. Expanding the flood drainage clearance for structures crossing rivers and streams that fail to ensure flood drainage; clearing obstructions to the flow on rivers, streams and transport systems to prevent the risk of sweeping floods and flashfloods. Strengthening forest management, protection and development, improving the quality of forests, especially natural forests and protection forests, and drawing up plans to plant and suitably exploit production forests.

- Ensuring safety for reservoirs: consolidating and upgrading dams and reservoirs to ensure their safety, building flood discharge warning systems and specialized monitoring systems serving the management and operation of reservoirs, making and updating flood maps for downstream areas according to regulations. Effectively operating reservoirs to ensure the safety for related structures and downstream areas, especially the important reservoirs of Son La, Hoa Binh, Cua Dat, Ngan Truoi, etc., ensuring flood control for downstream areas and water supply during the dry season.

- Researching and adjusting production and restructuring crops and livestock and implementing measures to proactively protect and adapt crops, livestock and poultry to natural disasters, especially floods and harmful cold and frost.

- Guiding and assisting people in building homes to prevent and minimize damage caused by natural disasters, especially hail and tornadoes.

c/ The Central Coast region (from Quang Binh to Binh Thuan provinces)

To proactively prevent, avoid and adapt to natural disasters, focusing on proactively preventing and controlling storms, floods, inundation, drought, landslides and river bank and coastal erosion. To focus on the following solutions:

- Improving the quality of natural disaster forecasts, especially early forecasts to help proactively respond to storms, rain, floods, inundation and drought. Building and consolidating the multi-disaster warning system to monitor and supervise rain, floods, landslides and inundation in combination with the existing infrastructure system, with priority given to the combined monitoring and rain warning system, including people’s rain gauge, and the monitoring and surveillance system in critical areas prone to flooding and overflow.

- Guiding the building of houses and structures concurrently serving the evacuation of people to ensure safety against natural disasters, especially storms, floods and inundation; implementing policies to support poor and social policy-benefiting families to build storm- and flood-proof homes.

- Consolidating and upgrading dams, reservoirs, sea dikes, estuary dikes and hydraulic structures to ensure their safety and prevent and control riverbank and coastal erosion. Effectively operating reservoirs to ensure safety for themselves and downstream areas, and at the same time serve the prevention and control of floods, drought and seawater intrusion, especially the reservoirs of Ta Trach, Dinh Binh, Ba Ha, etc.

- Zoning risk-prone areas, making natural disaster warning maps, detailed to commune level, especially for areas with high risks of flashfloods and landslides, updating flooding maps for downstream areas of reservoirs corresponding to flood discharge and dam failure scenarios, maps of inundation caused by strong storms and super typhoons, maps of river basin inundation; building structures to prevent and control flashfloods and landslides in key and critical areas. Proactively relocating people out of riverside, stream, hillside and coastal areas with high risks of flashfloods, landslides, flow obstruction and low-lying areas frequently deeply flooded. Organizing the development, review, drill, and implementation of natural disaster prevention and control plans, especially emergency population evacuation and recovery plans when dangerous situations hit areas where it is impossible to relocate people, according to the “four on-the-spot” motto.

- Strictly managing the construction of houses and infrastructure facilities, especially residential areas, tourist areas, riverside and coastal resorts and transport works, ending the construction of houses and works in areas at risk of landslide, flow obstruction, encroachment upon river and stream beds, leveling of slopes for construction of works and houses, increasing natural disaster risks. Expanding the flood drainage clearance of transport works, tackling the estuary sedimentation, improving channel beds combined with dredging to ensure flood drainage space, avoiding increased inundation. Strengthening forest management, protection and development, and improving the quality of forests, especially natural forests, estuarine and coastal mangrove forests and watershed protection forests; and conserving natural coastal sand dunes.

- Building and upgrading anchorage-cum-fishing logistics zones according to planning.

- Restructuring crops and livestock to suitable to natural disasters, especially in frequently flooded areas and drought-hit areas.

d/ The Central Highlands and Southeast region

To focus on preventing drought, floods, inundation and storms, specifically as follows:

- Reviewing the master plan on natural disaster prevention and control and hydraulic work in accordance with the planning law. Building, repairing and upgrading dams and reservoirs, strengthening the system of water channels; safely and effectively operating reservoirs, especially Dau Tieng reservoir, to proactively prevent and control floods and drought, ensure safety for downstream areas, promptly warning flood discharge in areas outside the region; building and updating flood maps for reservoir-downstream areas corresponding to flood discharge and dam failure scenarios.

- Implementing solutions to mitigating natural disaster risks: restructuring crops and livestock to adapt to drought and water shortage conditions; applying water-efficient irrigation technology for high-value upland crops. Planting and strictly protecting watershed protection forests. Supporting people to apply household-scale solutions to storing water for daily life and production. Controlling groundwater extraction, and implementing measures to replenish groundwater in the rainy season. Gradually rearranging and relocating people in unsafe areas along rivers, streams and coastal areas with high risks of flashfloods, landslides, frequent inundation, and strictly controlling spontaneous migration.

- Constructing and upgrading infrastructure for natural disaster prevention and control: strictly controlling the building of houses and works in coastal and riverside areas; building and upgrading structures to prevent coastal erosion; planting and protecting mangrove forests in estuaries and sand-sheltering trees in coastal areas; building storm shelter-cum-fishing logistics zones according to planning.

dd/ The Mekong River Delta region

To proactively “co-live with floods, drought and seawater intrusion”, adapt to and make use of advantages for sustainable development, focusing on:

- Identifying ecological sub-regions as the direction for production transformation, socio-economic development to adapt to climate change and construction of infrastructure for natural disaster prevention and control, including flooded plain areas and freshwater, brackish, and seawater ecological zones.

- Reviewing the master plan on natural disaster prevention and control and hydraulic work according to the regional master plan and the planning law on the basis of reviewing and re-assessing the system of ring dikes and embankments, the riverbank and coastal erosion prevention and control plan, production restructuring plans in the region, ensuring synchronization and conformity with the riparian and coastal land use master plan and the master plan of the Mekong Delta region. Consolidating and upgrading the system of ring dikes and embankments according to planning, ensuring flood control, sustainable production development, and safety of people’s lives and property, and removing unsuitable ring dikes and embankments.

- Developing scenarios to respond to storms, floods, drought, water shortage and extreme seawater intrusion for proactive prevention and response.

- Strictly controlling the dredging and mining of sand on rivers and canals; effectively using dredged sand to compensate for sand and consolidating the bank, mitigating the risk of riverbank and coastal erosion. Controlling groundwater extraction and addressing land subsidence.

- Guiding and supporting people to build and upgrade their homes and proactively respond to floods, storms, landslides, cyclones, lightning and sea level rise; strictly managing the construction and upgrading of houses and works along rivers and the coast; step by step dismantling unsafe works and houses along rivers and canals, and rearranging the population to prevent and control landslides and ensure flood drainage.

- Building and upgrading natural disaster prevention and control infrastructure:

+ Building, upgrading and completing the system of sea dikes and ring dikes and embankments, flood and seawater intrusion control works, on-farm irrigation systems to serve sustainable agricultural transformation and development, with particular emphasis on constructing structures serving regional connectivity and multiple purposes, transport works combined with hydraulic work and dikes.

+ Building and consolidating riverbank and coastal erosion prevention structures, especially in areas directly affecting the people’s safety and essential infrastructure works; giving priority to the development of mangrove forests and implementation of environmentally friendly solutions.

+ Completing the program on building residential clusters and lines and houses in flooded areas; consolidating and upgrading works concurrently serving the evacuation of people when major floods and strong storms occur.

+ Studying and building a system of works to store water in the rainy season, regulate water sources in the dry season to minimize impacts of drought and seawater intrusion.

- Promoting international cooperation, especially with countries in the Mekong River basin, to share information, effectively and sustainably exploit the Mekong River water resources, and at the same time improving the quality of flood, drought and seawater intrusion forecasts for proactive prevention and response.

e/ For major cities

To focus on prevention and control of inundation caused by heavy rains and high tides, specifically as follows:

- Safe urban management against natural disasters: controlling planning and construction to limit impacts of natural disasters and increase of natural disaster risks, determining standards of water drainage to prevent and control inundation in conformity with impacts of climate change, proactively zoning drainage areas, earmarking space for flood drainage, arranging reservoirs to temporarily store water to prevent inundation during heavy rains and raising the capacity of water drainage systems. Preventing and handling the construction of works and houses and waste dumping to encroach upon the drainage and water storage space; at the same time further dredging water drainage systems. Inspecting and controlling regulations on natural disaster prevention and control requirements for infrastructure and public works.

- Building and upgrading natural disaster prevention and control infrastructure works according to planning, especially the system of dikes to prevent floods and seawater intrusion, sluice systems, pump stations, reservoirs, drainage canals and channels to prevent inundation; building natural disaster monitoring and safety control systems, especially for dealing with inundation.

g/ At sea and on islands

To proactively prevent and avoid storms and tropical depressions to ensure safety for people, ships, socio-economic activities, security and national defense, focusing on:

- Managing ships and economic activities at sea: improving the level of safety and ensuring communication with ships operating at sea, especially offshore fishing vessels. Providing guidance on ensuring safety against natural disasters for aquaculture areas, exploration and exploitation of natural resources and minerals and tourism activities at sea and on islands.

- Building and consolidating natural disaster prevention and control infrastructure: building anchorage zones for ships to avoid storms which concurrently provide fishing logistics services, and natural disaster prevention and control, search, rescue infrastructure facilities and structures on islands. Consolidating and upgrading communication systems to transmit natural disaster information to ships and people operating at sea and on islands. Guiding and supporting the construction of houses and public works which can be used for evacuation of people when storms occur.

- Raising the sea salvage and rescue capacity to be professional and modern with sufficient equipment and capacity to effectively deal with emergency situations; cooperating with countries and territories in the region in supporting ships to avoid storms and search and rescue activities.

V. ORGANIZATION OF IMPLEMENTATION

The National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, the National Committee for Incident and Natural Disaster Response and Search and Rescue, and related ministries, sectors and localities shall, based on their respective state management functions and assigned tasks, proactively develop and implement key programs, plans and projects to implement the Strategy’s objectives, tasks and solutions, specifically as follows:

1. The Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control shall

- Urge related ministries, sectors and localities to develop plans, programs and schemes to implement the Strategy’s objectives, tasks and solutions; build a framework for monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the Strategy; sum up and evaluate results of the implementation of the Strategy on an annual basis.

- Guide and urge the development and implementation of plans to respond to various types of natural disasters corresponding to natural disaster risk levels. Build a mechanism of coordination in directing and commanding incident and natural disaster response and search and rescue; direct the organization of drills and training courses on natural disaster prevention and control.

- Direct the capacity building for natural disaster prevention and search and rescue forces; improve physical foundations of natural disaster prevention and control steering and commanding agencies at all levels; guide the strengthening and operation of commune-level natural disaster prevention and response spearhead forces; vigorously promote communication and improvement of knowledge and response skills in natural disaster prevention and control.

- Direct the natural disaster prevention, response and recovery according to its assigned functions and tasks. Coordinate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and related agencies in coordinating international cooperation activities, and advise the Government and the Prime Minister on cooperation with other countries, international organizations and partners in natural disaster prevention, response and recovery.

2. The National Committee for Incident and Natural Disaster Response and Search and Rescue shall

- Direct the upgrading and modernization of vehicles and equipment for search, rescue and salvage to meet task requirements and suit characteristics of natural disasters in each region; build response capacity for the search and rescue force.

- Direct and coordinate forces in performing search, rescue and salvage tasks in natural disaster situations according to their assigned functions and tasks.

3. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall

- Review, formulate and promulgate according to its competence or submit to competent authorities for promulgation legal documents, mechanisms, policies, standards, technical regulations and regulations related to natural disaster prevention and control under their management; proactively propose amendments and supplementations to laws, mechanisms and policies to facilitate the mobilization of resources for natural disaster prevention and control.

- Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Home Affairs and related agencies in, studying and proposing organizational improvements to the natural disaster prevention and control system and natural disaster prevention and control and search and rescue steering and commanding agencies at all levels.

- Direct and organize the deployment of tasks and solutions to implement the Strategy in the fields under its management for proactive natural disaster prevention, control and recovery: organize communication and dissemination of knowledge and raise community awareness about natural disaster prevention and control; research and apply science and technology, guide production adjustment and development of plant varieties and animal breeds to adapt to climate change and proactively prevent and control natural disasters; invest in the construction of natural disaster prevention and control structures, databases, dedicated monitoring, surveillance and warning systems, facilities, equipment, etc.

4. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall

- Organize research, assessment and timely updating of the zoning of natural disaster risk-prone areas and making of natural disaster warning maps.

- Direct and guide the integration of the content of natural disaster prevention and control into master plans relating to the use of land and water resources to ensure safety and limit impacts that increase natural disaster risks.

- Focus on improving the quality of natural disaster forecast and warning to serve the work of prevention and response; upgrade equipment, modernize the national natural disaster monitoring, forecast and warning network and specialized observation systems.

5. The Ministry of Industry and Trade shall

- Review and improve standards, technical regulations and master plans under its management to ensure safety against natural disasters.

- Guide and direct the implementation of the content of natural disaster prevention and control in the industry and trade sector’s activities, ensure the safety of activities and structures under its management, especially hydro-power reservoirs and dams, power grids, industrial production, and mining.

- Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with other sectors and localities in, working out plans to ensure the supply of essential goods when natural disasters occur, especially in natural disaster-prone areas.

6. The Ministry of Transport shall

- Review and complete standards, technical regulations and master plans in the field of transport to ensure safety, limit impacts of natural disasters, cause no obstruction to flood drainage.

- Guide and direct the integration and implementation of the content of natural disaster prevention and control in development master plans and plans and activities of the transport sector, ensuring safety for activities and structures under its management, especially national highways and transport facilities in flood- and landslide-prone areas to reduce natural disaster risks.

- Direct the assurance of traffic safety when natural disasters occur and promptly overcome natural disaster consequences and perform natural disaster prevention and control work according to its assigned functions and tasks.

7. The Ministry of Construction shall

- Review and improve standards, technical regulations and master plans in the field under its management, especially those on water drainage and inundation control in urban areas, construction of houses and works to proactively respond to natural disasters and adapt to climate change.

- Guide and direct the integration and implementation of the content of natural disaster prevention and control in construction, urban and rural master plans, and construction of houses and works in flood-, storm- and landslide-prone areas to reduce natural disaster risks.

8. The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall

- Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with other ministries and sectors in, guiding the integration of the content of natural disaster prevention and control in socio-economic development master plans and plans.

- Prioritize the allocation of investment capital for natural disaster prevention and control programs, schemes and projects, especially projects with inter-regional, inter-provincial connectivity and multiple purposes.

- Coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and other ministries and sectors in reviewing and improving policies and laws pertaining to investment and public investment and other relevant laws to adopt suitable policies to raise funds other than state budget funds for investment in natural disaster prevention and control work.

9. The Ministry of Finance shall

- Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and related ministries and branches in, balancing and allocating annual budget funds for current expenditures and other lawful funding sources in accordance with the laws on the state budget and natural disaster prevention and control and other relevant laws for effective implementation of the Strategy.

- Coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Planning and Investment and related agencies in formulating mechanisms and policies to mobilize resources for natural disaster prevention and control programs and projects.

- Promptly distribute vehicles and equipment from the national reserves for natural disaster prevention and control and search and rescue activities.

10. Provincial-level People’s Committees shall plan, direct and organize the implementation of the Strategy according to their competence, focusing on:

- Integrating the content of ensuring safety against natural disasters into local socio-economic development master plans and plans; managing the implementation of the content of natural disaster prevention and control and hydraulic work in provincial-level master plans; transforming production to proactively respond to natural disasters.

- Developing, and organizing the implementation of, natural disaster prevention and control plans and natural disaster response plans; organizing drills according to approved plans.

- Building a spearhead force for natural disaster prevention and control and a volunteer force to assist people in natural disaster prevention and control.

- Raising community awareness, performing community-based natural disaster risk management; training and disseminating skills for natural disaster prevention and control forces, communities and people.

- Investing in the construction, repair, upgrading, and managing and operating effectively natural disaster prevention and control structures in their localities. Proactively reviewing and rearranging the population, relocating people from areas with high risks of flashfloods, landslides, and riverbank and coastal erosion; building and installing natural disaster risk monitoring, warning and control systems in key and critical areas.

Article 2. This Decision takes effect on the date of its signing.

Article 3. Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-attached agencies, chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees, and heads of related agencies shall implement this Decision.-

Prime Minister
NGUYEN XUAN PHUC