Vietnam Calls on International Community’s Assistance to Deal with Drought

Vietnam and the UN have called on international community to provide financial assistance to cope with the ongoing severe drought and salinization caused by El Nino and the low water flow in the Mekong River, state media has reported. Vietnam needs $48.5 million to deal with drought and salinization, including $16.4 million for food assistance for drought-affected people, $14 million for clean water supply, $6.4 million for disease prevention and $3.4 million for nutrition assistance. The ongoing drought and salinization has affected 400,000 hectares of rice, of which 26,000 ha were totally destroyed. The natural disasters have caused serious consequences in 18 provinces in the Mekong Delta, the central coastal region and the Central Highlands. Two millions of people have suffered from clean water shortage while livelihood of 1.75 million of people has been affected. As many as 400,000 people have been under threat of disease due to lack of clean water. So far, Vietnam has received international supports of over $7 million, including $4 million from the UN, and $3 million from the Asia Development Bank (ADB), according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The severe drought and salinization in the Mekong Delta is caused mainly by dozens of hydropower plants of Laos and China in the upper stream of the Mekong River, experts and environmentalists said. (Nong Nghiep Vietnam – Vietnam Agriculture Apr 27)