House reinforcement to reduce economic losses

caused by floods and storms, Central Vietnam

Name of the project:
Prevent typhoon damage
to housing, central
Vietnam
Place: Thua Thien Hue
province
Time: since 1999
Project goals: Stabilise
and improve the economic
situation of poor &
vulnerable families and
communities in Central
Vietnam; Reduce
economic shocks to
families and communities
caused by damage to
housing and public
building; Encourage the
application of flood and
storm resistant techniques
in existing and new
building; and Create the
environment in which
these actions can take
place
Good practices results:
By 2007 1 100 families
had benefited; 250 more
will benefit in 2007-8
Legal approach: This
strategy is closely referred
to HYOGO priority 4 and
contributes to complement
of task 3 and 4 of Vietnam
National Strategic Goals
to be achieved by 2010.
History: The programme
started in 1999 and is still
continuing with further
phases planned. Phases 1
and 2 were implemented
from 1999 to 2003 funded
by the CIDA and Phases
345 supported by the
ECHO through its
DIPECHO. The current
phase runs through to
2008

Summary:
Thua Thien Hue, central Vietnam, annually faces floods, storms and typhoons that
destroy property and investment, including weak and inappropriately structured
buildings.
Since 1999, Development Workshop France (DWF) program has demonstrated a
strategy to reinforce local private houses and small public buildings to thus reduce
economic losses caused by cyclones in Thua Thien Hue province. This strategy
channels resources into prevention rather than reconstruction, and is far cheaper than
the cost of reconstruction after a disaster.
A survey by DWF estimated that 70% of housing stock in its project area could be
classified as semi-solid or weak and thus very vulnerable to natural disasters. To
make houses more resistant once a cyclone comes, existing houses need to be
strengthened and better quality and attention to safe construction techniques need to
be applied for new construction.
DWF collaborates with hundreds of individual families to strengthen their existing
home. It is not easy work, as each existing building has different strengthening needs
therefore it requires careful assessment, The result of the assessment focuses on the
criteria of the ten key points of cyclone resistant construction. This assessment
identifies the various weak points, works out what can be done with the materials and
resources that are available, and what needs to be added. The work and costs are
discussed with the owner who has from the start participated in the assessment of her
or his house. If the owner agrees, a contract will be drawn up, listing in detail what
work should be done to make the building safe and defining the contribution that will be
made by the family and by the project. The house owner will supervise the work and
make the arrangements for skilled labour and materials; the commune technical staff
and DWF oversee the work to make sure it is well done. Since 2002 beside project
subsidised contribution, small credit funds have been available to support family
contributions to the cost and family contributions now cover about 60% of the total
cost.
Mr. Nguyen Quang Than family in Thuy Thanh commune, Huong Thuy district is one of
the beneficiaries. His house was surveyed and a contract was made in September
2002. Total cost for this reinforcement was 4,547,800 VND with the family contribution
(56%) of 2,550,300 including 1,500,000 VND credit and 1,050,300 cash contribution.

DWF also collaborated with the

communes to strengthen small
public buildings, including primary
schools,
kindergartens
and
markets to create safe spaces in
the event of typhoon and flood and
to
ensure
basic
services.
Kindergartens
provide
an
in Phu Da, built from September to December 2003. Cost of
interesting example, since the Kindergarten
construction: 56 millions VN Dongs / DW 33 millions Commune 23 millions
buildings are similar in scale to
many houses, and they provide safe infrastructure in the village and even hamlet level.
Since the start of DWF activities in Thua Thien Hue, 54 public buildings have been
built or strengthened.
Thanks to the excellent support from DWF, which helped strengthen hundreds of
buildings during the recent Typhoon N 6 Xangsane in October 2006, this strategy as
well as the reputation of DWF increased to the point that the Provincial authorities
issued an edict in 2006 encouraging everyone to adopt these techniques.
1

Innovative:
Development Workshop pioneered this strategy in Vietnam to strengthen houses and public buildings. For
infrastructure, Vietnam government has tended to focus on strengthening and developing larger construction and
protecting dykes and riverbanks. Once houses are damaged, the government assists where it can by handing out
some materials to those who have lost their homes, and a family may get a small reconstruction grant, but that is
not certain. Following typhoons and floods in 1999 that destroyed 10 000 houses and damaged 470 000 in central
Viet Nam, the prime minister decreed exceptionally that 1 million VN Dongs (+/- 62 USD) be given to each person
whose house has been destroyed to help reconstruction. But safe reconstruction is costly and the level of support, if
received, is inadequate in proportion to the real recovery cost to the family. Faced repeatedly with major losses,
families and local communities have themselves to take on most of the burden of domestic rebuilding. Thus this
prevention rather than reconstruction strategy helps to avoid repeated investment that every household may face.
Another innovation of this strategy is that its practical and efficient way of reducing family and community social and
economic vulnerability at affordable rates. Compared to the risk and cost of losing ones home, the DWF experience
of working with families in Thua Thien Hu Province since 1999 has shown that for an average house value of 975
US $ for 35m, an extra maximum of 25% - 250 US $ - needs to be spent on making the building flood or typhoon
resistant, and for many houses the cost is less. As result, for a resistant house the preventive strengthening
investment ranges from 15 to 30% of the total building value. The same applies to a small school, health centre or
market. Considering the experience by neighbours who have had their house strengthened, many families are
prepared to invest in this preventive action.
The DWF programme suggests Ten key points which are feasible and easy to apply to existing buildings as well
as new construction. By the time, this technique has been proved to be both house resistant and cost effective.
Different:
Improving the quality of the home a direct result of the DWF programme is clearly linked to long-term poverty
reduction for the communities that annually are negatively affected by typhoons. As the programme helps families
reduce the vulnerability of their home to storm damage and associated effects, it protects the investment they have
made in constructing their home and it creates an environment of greater family stability in which they can focus
on production, health and education.
This initiative has also promoted the use of revolving funds for preventive house strengthening, where normal
micro-finance activities target income generation activities.
Sustainable:
Some aspects of the programme are already sustainable. In practice, safe construction details are applied by local
builders since they themselves witness the effectiveness through their work in the commune.
Regarded in 1999 by many authorities as an unworkable idea, in 2006 the Provincial authorities issued an edict
instructing local district and commune authorities and the public to apply the ten key points of flood and storm
resistant construction that have been promoted by DWF.
Participatory method in home survey and cost contribution makes this strategy more sustainable and with greater
shared responsibility. Once the beneficiaries have a chance to directly participate in the project, they will take more
efforts to maintain and improve its outcomes.
Replicable:
The overall approach can easily be replicated, provide the resources can be committed for setting it up.
In Vietnam, building on the past 7 years experience in Viet Nam DWF works with poor communities in Thua Thien
Hue Province, and has extended some activities to Quang Tri province in 2006, and possible into Da Nang as well
in late 2007.
DWF has applied some aspects of the programme in other countries (like: Indonesia; Afghanistan, Iran, Guinea).
Local staff trained by DWF regularly provide training support to other organisations about safe construction
techniques.

Contact details:
Guillaume Chantry, Coordinator,
Development Workshop France Hue Thua Thien Hue, Tel: 054 84 82 31 Email: dwvn@dwf.org