Context:

The project aims to respond to climate emergencies that occurred in the Xin Man District between June and September 2024.  
In June, the entire Ha Giang province was hit by intense rainfall, leading to the worst flooding in the past 30 years: 350 homes were flooded, and damages exceeded 350,000 euros. In September, Ha Giang was struck by Typhoon Yagi, the strongest typhoon to hit Vietnam in the last three decades. There have been at least 200 deaths and 100 missing people in the country, but this figure is expected to rise. Thousands of square kilometers of rice fields were destroyed, and it is estimated that one and a half million animals, including chickens and ducks, were killed by landslides and floods.  
Climate shocks and the resulting damage are among the primary reasons economically vulnerable people fall back into poverty. Ha Giang province is particularly prone to landslides and floods, which cause severe damage to infrastructure and agriculture, further isolating ethnic minorities. In particular, this type of extreme weather event endangers the homes of numerous families. In rural areas of Ha Giang, there is the highest rate of families living in unstable or temporary housing (2019 Vietnam Population and Housing Census). Forty-nine point nine percent of families live in houses made from natural materials, which are extremely susceptible to landslides and floods. This percentage is the highest in the entire country.  

Specifically, the project seeks to address the need for new safe housing for poor families in the Xin Man district (Ha Giang province), whose homes were either completely destroyed or rendered unsafe (leaving families displaced) by the storms and typhoon from June to September 2024. Additionally, the project aims to secure the Nam Dan kindergarten, which was impacted by a landslide near the building.  

In the Xin Man district, damages caused by Typhoon Yagi and summer storms did not result in fatalities, but they did cause significant damage to many family homes, in particular:  
- 11 houses completely destroyed;  
- 137 houses declared unsafe due to foundation collapses and cracks, where the resident families urgently need to relocate to a new home (displaced families);  
- Over 100 houses with partial damage to walls or roofs, or that experienced landslides nearby;  
(These figures include families in various economic categories, not just poor families).  

The storms also damaged and rendered unsafe the Nam Dan kindergarten, damaging both the front yard (where the ground is now eroded with large holes) and the back, which borders an earthen slope that collapsed during the summer storms. This collapse caused ground shifts and affected an area 6 meters long, with debris and rocks spilling into classrooms along that side of the building. The soil and debris from the landslide make the school environment unsafe and unsuitable for children, and there are concerns about further landslides in the coming months or years unless a retaining wall is built. Photos of the damage are provided in the attached photo report.  

Other damages reported by Xin Man authorities include damage to agriculture (about 6 hectares of farmland, where rice or medicinal herbs were almost ready for harvest, were severely damaged by the disasters); landslides that caused serious damage to electrical infrastructure and numerous public buildings (including the People's Committee of Pà Vầy Sủ, the central market in Quảng Nguyên, the Chí Cà kindergarten, the Xín Mần school canteen, and the Cốc Rế cultural house); and over 20 roads blocked or made inaccessible.

Actions:

The general objective of the project is to address the housing emergency for poor families and ensure school safety following the storms and Typhoon YAGI from June to September 2024 in the Xin Man district (Ha Giang Province, Vietnam). The specific objectives of the project are:
- to ensure the safety of the Nam Dan kindergarten;
- to support the reconstruction of 40 homes for poor families who have lost their homes or whose homes were rendered unstable and unsafe.

A1: Securing the Nam Dan kindergarten 
After the front yard of the school is repaired with local public funds, this project will secure the back part of the building and the surrounding area. The rear ground will be leveled with an excavator to prevent future landslides, and the mountainous terrain will be reinforced with a concrete retaining wall and a drainage ditch.

A2: Identification, meeting, and agreement with beneficiary families 
In the first month of the project, after compiling lists of poor families who have lost their homes due to the storms and typhoon or were forced to leave their homes for safety reasons, and who have not yet rebuilt them, community meetings will be organized to meet these families and discuss the project. GTV and local authorities will then identify 40 beneficiary families based on the severity of their economic and family conditions, with GTV prioritizing the most vulnerable families, single-parent families, and the elderly, in consultation with local authorities. Agreements will be signed with these families, committing them to use the materials provided for the construction of a new home within the project’s timeframe, that is, within the next 12 months.

A3: Distribution of building materials to 40 beneficiary families 
GTV will proceed with the distribution of building materials to each family, with a maximum value of €1,500 per household. These materials will be the same for each family and will consist of concrete bricks, steel rods, corrugated material for roof covering, cement, and sand.

A4: Project management and monitoring by GTV staff 
GTV staff will handle the financial and logistical management of the project throughout its duration.

A5: Monitoring and photo collection by GTV volunteers 
Some Vietnamese volunteers residing in Hanoi will assist GTV staff in the monitoring phase by collecting photos of each family’s home, before and during reconstruction interventions. These volunteers will likely be young students from Hanoi University, already part of GTV's Vietnamese volunteer network.

Expected results:

The project outcomes will be as follows:
- The Nam Dan kindergarten, attended by 35 children aged 3 to 5, has been made safe through the construction of an embankment to contain debris from landslides caused by recent natural disasters, which pose a risk of further landslides;
- 40 poor families have completed the reconstruction of their new homes (an estimated 200 beneficiaries of this intervention, based on the local average of 5 people per household)."