As many as 105 disadvantaged households in eights wards and communesin central Da Nang city are to receive assistance to buildstorm-resistant shelters between 2014 and 2017, a local conference heardon October 11.

The programme, to be implemented by theDa Nang Women’s Union at a total cost of 3 billion VND (142,857 USD), isan expansion of the project funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, anAmerican philanthropic organisation.

Additionally, theWomen’s Union will work together with the Institute for Socio-EconomicTransition of America (ISET) in capacity-building activities related toclimate change in communities in order to develop efficient adaptationand response measures.

At the conference, ISET coordinator inVietnam, Ngo Thi Le Mai underlined the need to build such storm-proofhouses in Da Nang, which is often hit by intense storms and frequentfloods, to ensure safety for local residents and mitigate disasterdamages.

The first phase of the project with total investmentof more than 7 billion VND (333,300 USD) was implemented between 2011and 2014, benefiting a total of 320 disadvantaged households in thecity.

It has enabled each femalerepresentative of low-income households to access a loan of 20–30million VND to construct a shelter using storm resistant techniques.

The coastal city is one of the first 33 cities tojoin the Rockefeller Foundation’s global “100 Resilient CitiesChallenge” initiative.

The storm resistant shelter project is part of a range of activities launched in Da Nang by the charity.-     VNA