A rice field dries up in Ia Ka commune of Chu Pah district, Gia Lai province (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – UN Women Vietnam and the Republic of Korea’s (RoK) Government have signed a cooperation agreement worth 300,000 USD to assist women and girls in drought-hit districts in the Mekong Delta and the Central Highlands of Vietnam.
The cooperation will help improve sanitary conditions for 15,000 women and girls of 7,500 low-income families in six districts affected by the saltwater intrusion and severe drought in the Mekong Delta province of Ca Mau and the Central Highlands provinces of Kon Tum and Gia Lai.
This effort is expected to prevent the spreading of diarrhea, dysentery, hand-foot and mouth, dengue fever and skin diseases. It will also help improve the targeted women’s awareness of sanitation and nutrition.
Shoko Ishikawa, UN Women Country Representative in Vietnam, said with the RoK’s assistance, the organisation can provide basic sanitary products to help women and their families protect their health.
RoK Ambassador to Vietnam Lee Hyuk said he hopes the cooperation, which is in conformity with the RoK Government’s “Better Life for Girls” initiative, will help improve sanitary conditions for women and girls in the drought-hit areas and mitigate the risk of disease outbreaks.
The RoK Government pledges continued support for Vietnam in dealing with the impacts of climate change by sharing related experience and knowledge, he added.
The Central Highlands and Mekong Delta have experienced an acute drought since late 2015, hampering access to safe water and sanitary conditions for at least 2 million people, including 1 million women and 520,000 girls.
Recently, UN Women also received 400,000 USD funded by the UN Emergency Fund to support 20,000 women and girls in areas suffering from drought in Vietnam.-VNA
