Building Resilience to Drought in South-East Asia: National multi- stakeholder policy dialogue: Early actions to mitigate drought and saline intrusion in the South of Viet Nam Cantho, Viet Nam 10 December 2019 Conclusions and recommendations 1) The Building Resilience to Drought in South-East Asia: National multi-stakeholder policy dialogue: Early actions to mitigate drought and saline intrusion in the South of Viet Nam was convened on 10 December in Cantho, Viet Nam. The Viet Nam Disaster Management Authority (VNDMA) organized the Dialogue, in coordination with the ASEAN Secretariat, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the United Nations Children's Fund in Viet Nam (UNICEF). The agenda is attached as Annex 1. 2) The Dialogue is a follow-up to the 34th Meeting of the ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management (ACDM) held on 24 April 2019 in Mandalay, Myanmar which agreed, among others, to conduct national policy dialogues on drought in Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar and Viet Nam and to develop the capacities of the ASEAN Member States (AMS) to strengthen their resilience to drought and agreed on the regional action plan in mitigating the impact of drought in the region. 3) Representing the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, Mr. Nguyễn Trường Sơn, Deputy Director-General, Vietnam Disaster Management Authority, delivered the opening remarks. Ms. Tiziana Bonapace, Director, Information and Communication Technology Disaster Risk Reduction, ESCAP and Ms. Lesley Miller, Deputy Representative of UNICEF also delivered their statements at the opening session. 4) Around 70 senior officials and technical experts representing the national and local authorities, comprising of VNDMA, Vietnam Meteorological and Hydrological Administration, Agriculture and Rural development department of Southern provinces of Vietnam, and academic institutions participated in the Dialogue. Representatives from ASEAN and ESCAP Secretariats and United Nations agencies in Viet Nam also participated. The attendance is attached as Annex 2. 5) The Dialogue highlighted Vietnam’s experience in 2016-2017 when the country was badly hit by drought and saline intrusion largely due to El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon, resulting in severe impacts in 18 provinces that led to humanitarian intervention. The Dialogue also discussed hydrological conditions in the Mekong delta in 2019, the deficit of water flows compared to the yearly average, the increase of hotspot across Vietnam, and its subsequent socio-economic impacts. 6) The ASEAN Secretariat presented the ongoing initiatives and future plan to strengthen drought resilience from humanitarian and environmental perspectives and urged that ASEAN’s regional capacity to deal with drought needs to be strengthened to enable prevention, protection and assistance for all, especially those most vulnerable. This could take the form of strengthening cross-sectoral platforms and mobilizing relevant sectoral bodies and mechanisms to take early action to mitigate drought, enhancing cooperation with competent agencies / organizations for technical support including capacity buildings for AMS, leveraging AHA Centre’s disaster monitoring system to issue early warnings on drought and develop drought response plans, and for the ACDM to work closely with other relevant sectoral bodies (ASEAN Senior Officials on the Environment (ASOEN), Senior Officials Meeting of the ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (SOM-AMAF), Senior Officials Meeting on Social Welfare and Development (SOMSWD), Senior Officials Meeting on Health Development (SOMHD), etc.), in developing the ASEAN Declaration on Drought to ensure stronger political commitment for building regional drought resilience. 7) The participants expressed strong support for an ASEAN-level approach to building resilience to drought and recognized the role of Viet Nam as the Chair of ASEAN in 2020. To strengthen the resilience of communities, the participants also recognized the importance of early action informed by disaggregated data and enabled by stronger partnerships. 8) The participants put forward key recommendations for action by national authorities in the immediate term and suggested mobilization of support for farmers and local governments towards their implementation, including: a) Adjust cropping structure to cope with drought and salinity intrusion; b) Proper operation of irrigation works to adapt to actual conditions; c) Regular monitoring of salinity to take proactive responses; d) Proactive storing of fresh water for domestic and production uses; and e) Efficient use of water for agriculture and domestic use. 9) The participants also formulated long-term recommendations as inputs to the draft of the ASEAN declaration on drought for possible adoption by the ASEAN Leaders during the ASEAN Summit in November 2020: a) Transform crop and aquaculture structures towards more drought resistant varieties and species; b) Adjust agricultural cropping seasons to adapt to respective ecological regions; c) Preparation of water storage and supply plans; d) Raise awareness amongst communities on drought prevention and economical and effective water uses; e) Strengthen investments in drought and salinity intrusion prevention and control infrastructure; f) Implement long-term management plan with focus on long-term forecasts to proactively respond to drought and salinity intrusion and g) Increase household water storage to ensure sufficient domestic water during the dry season months. 10) The participants further identified areas of action which could benefit from a collaborative approach at the ASEAN level, such as improving drought risk assessment, monitoring, and early warning systems; strengthening multi-sectoral approaches; and innovations in drought risk financing. 11) The participants endorsed the initiation of the second phase of ASEAN-UN joint study on drought Ready for the Dry Years encompassing all ASEAN countries and the mainstreaming of drought and other slow- onset disasters in the 2021-2025 work programme of the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response (AADMER). 12) Selected news articles about the Dialogue are attached as Annex 3. Agenda (as of 3 December 2019) No. Time Contents Responsible person 1 08:00 – 08:30 Viet Nam Disaster Management Delegate registration Authority (VNDMA) - Leaders of Central Steering 2 08:30 – 08:45 Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control (CCNDPC) Opening speeches - Representative of UNESCAP - Representative of UNICEF Long-term water resources forecast in the National Center for Hydro- 3 08:45 – 09:00 Mekong Delta. meteorological Forecasting Predict impacts of drought, saline intrusion Southern Institute for Water 4 09:00 – 09:15 on agriculture and water uses in the Resources Research Mekong Delta Drought and saline intrusion risks to Representative of UNICEF 5 09:15 – 09:30 children and their vulnerabilities Regional perspectives - Presentations on key findings and Representative of UNESCAP 6 09:30 – 09:45 messages of the Ready for the Dry Years Secretariat and Asia-Pacific Disaster Report 2019 ESCAP secretariat representative - Reflections on how to strengthen ASEAN- Representative of ASEAN Secretariat 7 09:45 -10:00 level action on drought: next steps ASEAN secretariat representative Viet Nam's proposal on early actions to Vietnam Disaster Management 8 10:00 – 10:15 drought in the Mekong Delta Authority Tea Break 9 10:15 – 10:30 Stakeholder perspectives: Roundtable 10 10:30 – 11:15 All delegates Closing 11 11:15 – 11:30 - Leaders of CCNDPC 12/16/2019 Asean to take immediate steps to combat drought in SE Asia | The Star Online Asean to take immediate steps to combat drought in SE Asia VIETNAM Wednesday, 11 Dec 2019 12:37 PM MYT Speakers at the Building Resilience Drought South-east Asia dialogue held on Dec 10 Can Tho, Vietnam. - Vietnam News/ANN CAN THO (ANN): Asean-member countries have vowed to take immediate action to resolve problems caused by worsening drought in South-east Asia, especially in Vietnam's Mekong Delta region, which is especially susceptible to global warming. Speaking at a meeting on Tuesday (Dec 10) in Can Tho, Intani Nur Kusuma, senior ofcer at the Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance Division of the Asean Secretariat, said that a declaration on drought would be adopted by leaders at the Asean Summit to be held in Vietnam in November next year. Asean has worked closely with relevant sectors to help the Asean Committee on Disaster Management draft the declaration, she said, adding that drought-related activities need to be integrated into the https://www.thestar.com.my/news/regional/2019/12/11/asean-to-take-immediate-steps-to-combat-drought-in-se-asia 1/2 12/16/2019 Asean to take immediate steps to combat drought in SE Asia | The Star Online future action plan of Asean. To mitigate the impact, it was suggested that drought risk assessment and early-warning services should be improved through the sharing of data from space-based technologies. Tiziana Bonapace, director of the Information and Communications Technology and Disaster Risk Reduction Division of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacic (Escap), told Vietnam News: “Climate change has already happened. Now is the time to adapt instead of ghting it.” Nguyễn Trường Sơn, deputy head of the Việt Nam Disaster Management Authority, said the Mekong Delta and Central Highlands regions were