Inclusive disaster risk reduction program
Located in the Pacific Northwest tropical monsoon climate, Vietnam faces frequent natural disasters including floods, storms, cyclones, landslides, flash floods, and whirlwinds. These disasters create tremendous impacts on economic sectors, increase poverty, negatively affect households and communities, and contribute to environmental degradation and serious health issues.
CORMIS believes that no one should be left behind in disaster risk management—including people with disabilities, elderly community members, children, and those living in remote mountainous areas.
We work across three interconnected areas to build true community resilience:
Prevention & Preparedness: Building Capacity Before Disaster Strikes
We partner with local government, Steering Committees of Disaster Prevention & Control, and Technical Support Groups in disaster-prone areas to strengthen their capacity to respond effectively to natural disasters and minimize losses.
Through participatory community mapping, planning workshops, and technical training, we help communities identify risks, develop response plans, and build the skills needed to protect lives and livelihoods when disasters occur.
Emergency Response: Meeting Immediate Needs When disasters strike, we provide rapid material assistance to affected communities. Our emergency aid includes:
- Blankets and basic necessities for families who have lost everything
- Food supplies for adults and children
- Support to rebuild homes and restart businesses
- Educational materials and support for children to continue learning after disasters
- Prevention materials: lifejackets, generators, facemasks, hand sanitizer
- Water filtering systems for schools in mountainous areas
Priority groups include children, women, elderly people, and those living in remote mountainous areas who face the greatest barriers to accessing external assistance.
Inclusive Preparedness: Ensuring Access for All
We identify and address critical gaps in disaster preparedness systems. Working with disability communities, we've discovered that many early warning systems are inaccessible to people with hearing or vision impairments.
Through specialized training workshops—such as our Disaster Risk Management training for the Deaf community—we bring together disability organizations, government disaster agencies, and policy leaders to develop truly inclusive early warning and response systems.
Our work ensures that emergency information reaches everyone, regardless of disability, and that disaster management agencies have the knowledge and tools to serve all community members effectively.
Through community-based disaster risk reduction initiatives, we have:
- Strengthened local government capacity for disaster prevention and response
- Provided emergency relief to hundreds of families across Central Vietnam
- Trained disability community leaders and government officials on inclusive disaster management
- Installed water filtering systems in remote mountain schools
- Rebuilt homes and supported business recovery for disaster-affected families
- Created accessible early warning systems for deaf and blind communities
Building a Safer Future Together
Climate change is increasing both the frequency and intensity of natural disasters in Vietnam. Through prevention, rapid response, and inclusive systems, CORMIS is helping communities not just survive disasters—but build the resilience to thrive despite them.
Contact us to learn more about our disaster risk reduction initiatives or to support our emergency response work.