Vice Chairman of the Cao Bang Provincial People's Committee Trinh Truong Huy speaks at the meeting.

Vice Chairman of the Cao Bang Provincial People's Committee Trinh Truong Huy expressed his warm welcome and gratitude to the delegation for supporting Cao Bang in overcoming the consequences of typoon Yagi. He said Typoon Yagi had caused serious damage to people and property in most districts and cities in Cao Bang province. According to the report, 55 people died, 19 were injured, 2 people were missing, 2,239 houses were damaged, over 2,076 hectares of rice and crops were flooded, 28.95 hectares of perennial trees were broken due to landslides, 20 hectares of fish farming area were damaged, thousands of livestock and poultry were killed and swept away, many residential areas were cut off and isolated. Many key traffic routes, schools, medical stations, irrigation works, electricity and water systems were severely damaged. He stated that although the province had carried out many relief activities and support to overcome the consequences of the natural disaster, people's lives were still facing many difficulties. The province would need a lot of resources and time to overcome the multi-faceted impacts of the storm and stabilize people's lives in the long term, he added.

Deputy Representative of UNICEF Vietnam Michaela Baeur speaks at the meeting

Deputy Representative of UNICEF Vietnam Michaela Baeur appreciated the solidarity of the Party Committee, government and people of Cao Bang in overcoming the consequences of the storm in those days. She said that in response to the province's damage, UNICEF had sent a draft document to Cao Bang province to help it overcome the damage to children and women caused by storm No. 3. Accordingly, the project funded by the United Nations Children's Fund had a total value of 1,295,000 USD (equivalent to 31.860 billion VND) and would be implemented in 5 areas including clean water and sanitation, child nutrition, education, prevention of child and women from abuse and exploitation, and multi-purpose cash support for households in need of overcoming the consequences of the typoon. The project was expected to be implemented in 9 months with 04 specific objectives to contribute to stabilizing the lives, safety, health and education of children and communities affected by the typoon.

Deputy Representative Michaela Baeur affirmed that UNICEF's mission is to protect and empower children and women in all areas, therefore, supporting the community, women and children in Cao Bang province to access health services, nutrition, education, child protection and care, social protection, clean water and environmental sanitation in emergencies was identified as an important priority and UNICEF's aid was necessary during that time. She expressed her hope that Cao Bang province would pay attention to coordinating and synchronously implementing the project in all areas so that it could be implemented effectively.

Vice Chairman of the Cao Bang Provincial People's Committee Trinh Truong Huy presents a souvenir to Deputy Representative of UNICEF Vietnam Michaela Baeur

At the end of the meeting, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee Trinh Truong Huy expressed his thanks to Ms. Michaela Baeur and UNICEF for their support to Cao Bang. The Vice Chairman also directed the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the focal agency for implementing the project, to promptly coordinate with UNICEF and related units to conduct surveys and assess the need to overcome the consequences in localities to organize implementation. He requested that, based on UNICEF's work plan, urgent and feasible components should be selected to be implemented first in order to achieve the project's objectives.