Hanoi (VNA) – A seminar in Hanoi onMarch 8 highlighted the need to overhaul legal documents relating to naturaldisaster prevention and control with children’s rights taken intoconsideration.

It was organised by the Central SteeringCommittee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, UNICEF, and the USAgency for International Development.

Vu Xuan Thanh – Deputy General Director of theVietnam Disaster Management Authority under the Ministry of Agriculture andRural Development and Deputy Chief of Office of the Central Steering Committeefor Natural Disaster Prevention and Control – said that in recent years, theParty, State and Government have promoted concerted structural andnon-structural solutions to minimise the impact of natural disasters. Relevantmechanisms, policies and laws have also been perfected.

However, laws and legal documents on disasterprevention and control must continue to be reviewed and amended in order tofacilitate appropriate actions in response to the reality of increasingly unpredictableand extreme impact of climate change, he noted.

Mizuho Okimoto-Kaewtathip, Chief of SocialPolicy and Governance at UNICEF Vietnam, said law revision should pay moreattention to disaster risk mitigation, preparations, responsibility improvementat all sectors and levels, and improvement of data to serve effective planning,management and response.

The role of schools in promoting communities’awareness and resilience to natural disasters is especially important.Therefore, laws should be amended in a way that promotes children’s role as themain factor of changes to create disaster-safe communities, she said.

Climate change impact is unavoidable, but with amore comprehensive legal framework, Vietnam can prove its efforts towardssustainable development so that no one and no child is left behind, she added.

Dr. Ian F. Wilderspin, a disaster risk andclimate change specialist, said although the number of legal documents isrising fast, they are still unable to cover all fields and not detailed enoughto regulate all disaster prevention and control activities.

He proposed that Vietnam review all laws andlegal documents related to disaster risk management and specify issues thatneed to be prioritised for amendment. Additionally, disaster risk managementguidelines should switch their focus from disaster response to disaster riskmitigation and climate change adaptation. –VNA