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2015
- 11 Décembre
- Par Alain Jaquemin
- VIE/033
- Développement local
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Vietnam - LuxDev project joins hands with United Nations ORANGE Campaign
From 25 November through 10 December, Human Rights Day, the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence aim to raise public awareness and mobilizing people everywhere to bring about change.
Starting November 25, UN Women promotes the global 16-day ORANGE campaign, which aims to put this violence against women and girls in the spotlight, through many different actions and interventions by governments, civil society organisations, private businesses and individuals worldwide.
Studies and statistics demonstrate that such action is also necessary in Vietnam, where a study found out, that one in three women are beaten or sexually abused by their husbands or partners. If emotional abuse is added, the figure goes up to six out of ten. Further, a recent small-scale survey conducted in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City found that 87% of women and girls interviewed had experienced some form of sexual harassment in public places.
As a local development project in TT Hue province, VIE/033 takes a strong focus on women. Indeed, in spite of the overall achievements in socio-economic development, poverty remains a fact of life for many people and women are over-represented. Furthermore, many women who are not officially categorised as ‘poor’ or ‘near-poor’, are most vulnerable and at risk of falling into poverty quickly from the moment something goes wrong – for example as a result of a climate or weather-related event, to which the province is prone to.
The project, therefore, supports and works closely with the Women’s Union, specifically on the broad issues of Gender Equality and Women’s Economic Empowerment. As part of that support, we decided to jointly engage in the global campaign as well as "Orange Hue City".
The main event of this 16-day campaign took place on Campaign Day, in the morning of 5 December, at TT Hue’s main cultural centre, with music and dance performances, speeches by provincial leaders, the UN Women Country Representative and Lux-Development. They were joined by a campaign team of 500 enthusiasts – every single one of them dressed in the colour of the day.
Thousands of leaflets were distributed at key places around the city, and an Orange parade on bicycles rode the city’s streets, which had been decorated in the colours of the 16-day campaign and brought the Campaign Day to an impressive close.
As the UN Women’s Country Representative stated in her speech: “fear of violence leads women to withdraw from society and from jobs, and causes girls to drop out of school”. Through this Orange campaign, and the wide media coverage in newspapers and on TV, people’s awareness about the forms and level of violence against women and girls, and what action can be taken against it, has been raised. In combination with the active support of the local authorities to tackle the issues, we are hopeful that it will contribute to a safer environment for women and girls and foster their socio-economic prospects.
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- 7 Décembre
- Par Richard Schmid
- Bureau Kosovo
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Luxembourg re-affirms development partnership with Kosovo
_{(Published by the Ministry of European Integration, Kosovo)}

On 30 November 2015 a High Level Partnership Commission between the Government of Kosovo and the Government of Luxembourg took place in Luxembourg.

During the meeting, the delegations discussed the progress and challenges in the implementation of the Luxembourg assistance in Kosovo in the areas of vocational education and training, health as well as water and sanitation.

Regarding the health sector, delegations discussed the health sector strategy and establishment of the Health Information System. For the education sector, progress has been reviewed in the operationalization of the Vocational Education & Training Agency and Centers of Competence. In the water sector, Kosovo confirmed co-financing of joint infrastructural projects, whereas the Luxembourg delegation asked for courageous steps to be taken in the improvement of water management in Kosovo. Delegations also discussed future technical assistance, potential support to civil society and potential exchanges between Kosovo and Luxembourg universities.

The Head of the Kosovo delegation, Mr. Ramadan Ilazi, Deputy Minister of European Integrations said: “Luxembourg has continuously been a strong supporter of the Kosovo European integration agenda. Furthermore, Luxembourg has allocated around EUR 24 million to support the efforts undertaken to reform Kosovo. Three sectors of our joint work are some of the key Government priorities in the years to come”.

The Head of the Luxembourg delegation, Ambassador Ms Martine Schommer, Director, Department for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Action, Ministry of Foreign an European Affairs of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg said: “Luxembourg remains strongly committed to Kosovo’s development and EU integration. A new four-year development program will be designed for the period 2017-2020 aiming to support Kosovo’s development strategies in various sectors (including health) and to strengthen Kosovo’s civil society”.

Luxembourg welcomed today the ratification of two agreements in the sectors of health and water by the Assembly.

Luxembourg will have granted Kosovo EUR 48 million of assistance in the period between 2013-2020.

The next High Level Partnership Commission will take place in Pristina in 2016.

(Ministry of European Integration, Kosovo)

See more at: http://mei-ks.net/en/news/luxembourg-re-affirms-development-partnership-with-kosovo#sthash.9Y4mMgXJ.dpuf
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- 25 Novembre
- Par María del Rocío VAZQUEZ
- NIC/026
- Formation et Insertion professionnelles
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Nicaragua - Fortalecimiento de la Educación Técnica y Formación Profesional en Hotelería & Turismo
Desde el pasado mes de abril de 2014 la Cooperación luxemburguesa, a través del proyecto NIC/026 “Fortalecimiento Institucional de la Educación Técnica y Formación Profesional en Hotelería & Turismo”, apoya en este sector al INATEC ente rector de la Educación Técnica y Formación Profesional (ETFP) en Nicaragua. El principal resultado del proyecto es la remodelación del Hotel Escuela Casa Luxemburgo (HECL) e incluirá el apoyo a siete aulas de Hotelería & Turismo repartidas en otros tantos departamentos del país.
Este proyecto se ampliará a partir de enero de 2016, con un presupuesto adicional de 6 000 000 de Euros y una prolongación de tiempo hasta finales de 2017, todo ello enmarcado dentro de la extensión del III Programa Indicativo de Cooperación (PIC 2015-2017); ascendiendo a 10 500 000 Euros el monto total destinado al Fortalecimiento Institucional de la ETFP.
Esta nueva ampliación asume las actividades que se habían previsto en el proyecto NIC/026 original, incluyendo además los siguientes resultados: (i) apoyar integralmente cuatro centros de formación del INATEC convirtiéndolos en “centros de referencia”, (ii) apoyar la implantación/mantenimiento de los sistemas de gestión de calidad en INATEC central y 14 centros, (iii) reforzar las capacidades en aquellos departamentos del INATEC central de interés en relación con los resultados del proyecto y (iv) mejorar las relaciones e imagen de la Educación Técnica y Formación Profesional en la sociedad nicaragüense.
^{Gráficos por ordenador}
La fecha de finalización del proyecto ampliado coincidirá con el lanzamiento de la programación conjunta que se llevará a cabo junto con la Unión Europea. Enfocados en esta Cooperación conjunta, desde hace un año se realiza una mesa de donantes de ETFP con todos los actores del sector presentes en Nicaragua (AECID, JICA, EU, COSUDE, OEI, USAID, entre otros). El objetivo de esta mesa de donantes es obtener información de los proyectos que se están llevando a cabo en el país y compartir buenas prácticas y experiencias, además de intentar desarrollar actividades de forma conjunta y que en definitiva sirva como instrumento de armonización entre donantes y alineación con las directrices del país. Dentro de este marco, se ha creado una base de datos de donantes que permite visualizar todos los proyectos de educación en Nicaragua, alineados al Plan Estratégico de Educación del país.
Dado que ha sido la primera experiencia de formulación de un proyecto de LuxDev bajo la modalidad de Gestión basada en Resultados (GBR), el equipo ha contado con la asistencia puntual de expertos en la materia. El trabajo ha supuesto un aprendizaje on-the-job para todo el equipo de formulación (incluida la asistencia técnica del proyecto) y será precisa una formación más profunda para aplicar al día a día la Gestión para resultados expresada en el Documento Técnico Financiero.
Este proceso de reformulación del proyecto ha sido responsabilidad de un equipo integrado por el NIC/026 y representantes del socio nacional (INATEC), así como del equipo de la Oficina regional de Managua, consultores expertos y colegas de la sede de Luxemburgo. El equipo del proyecto ha simultaneado el desarrollo de las actividades habituales y el desarrollo de capacitaciones, talleres y reuniones para el proceso de formulación.
Gracias a este trabajo de forma conjunta, paciencia y dedicación ha sido posible la ampliación de este proyecto, con el cual se cumplen diez años de apoyo de la Cooperación luxemburguesa a la Educación Técnica y Formación Profesional en Nicaragua.
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- 30 Octobre
- Par Pietro Lombardini , Ruud Corsel
- LAO/024
- Développement local
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Laos – Young, poor and remote are no longer barriers to secondary school enrolment
LAO/024 Khammouane Local Development Project (KHALODEP) successfully awarded scholarships to 26 selected students of the three project target districts: Boualapha, Mahaxay and Nakai in Khamouane province.

These scholarships are intended to strengthen human potentials and career alternatives through secondary school enrolment support and technical and vocational training. They are specifically aimed at supporting marginalized households whilst ensuring equal access for boys and girls (gender mainstreaming). Indeed the scholarships focus on increasing and ensuring access, enrolment and retention to secondary schools in the target villages.

^{Pupil signs her enrolment for the scholarship}

Although primary schools are operating in each village, or located at a distance affordable for parents to send their children to, this is not the case for secondary schools. Those are less widespread, often offering fewer classes, too far away or simply overcrowded. The attendance by girls and, in some cases, also boys is limited by the family needs in labour and lack of income to make ends meet.

KHALODEP scholarships outreach was made possible through the dynamic collaboration between the project team and the provincial and district Departments of Education and Sports as well as the representative from Thakhek Vocational Training School. All the target districts lower and upper secondary schools were visited with a total of 581 applications received. After screening, which included visits to 114 households, 26 scholarships were granted to students (14 of whom were girls) who best matched the criteria related to poverty and ethnicity.

In the process, two lessons were learned: i) to attract scholarships for vocational training and not only for secondary school education, a different promotion strategy has to be followed next year, and ii) to receive applications from households who currently can’t afford to send their children to secondary school at all, the promotion should not be channelled through the villages’ schools and the village authorities but through direct contact with these households.

From 20 to 22 October 2015, in an official ceremony, the Vice-Governors of Mahaxay, Nakai and Boualapha have handed over the scholarship awards to the students and their parents.

This activity will be replicated next year and hopefully more applications will be processed to offer disadvantaged youngsters a better outlook on receiving education and even a vocational oriented training.
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- 28 Octobre
- Par Raja Chowdry
- Bureau régional de Vientiane VIE/027
- Santé
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Vietnam – Hospital waste disposal goes green in remote areas of Cao Bang and Bac Kan
Health facilities in the North replace smoke-spewing incinerators with eco-friendly autoclaves
For the first time green methods of medical waste disposal are introduced at the district and commune levels in Vietnam. In June 2015, Luxembourg’s Project VIE/027 (Supporting Healthcare Policy for the Poor in Cao Bang and Bac Kan) installed autoclave technology in 6 district hospitals and 17 commune health centres in the impoverished, mountainous provinces of Cao Bang and Bac Kan. These health facilities are the primary care option for residents in the region, of which many are part of ethnic minority groups.
In addition, the project set up a very cost efficient network, allowing these newly equipped health facilities to share their equipment with 91 other commune health centres in the region. Autoclave machines, which sanitize medical waste and enable health workers to safely transport the materials to a landfill or to recycle, replaced the older, out-dated method of using kilns and incinerators to burn waste. Some communities also buried waste materials - even hazardous ones - in surrounding caves and forests.
For these reasons, project VIE/027 teamed up with the Viet Nam Health Environment Management Agency (VIHEMA) to train health staff on the importance of using eco-friendly practices to treat and dispose of medical waste. Cleanliness levels and hygiene awareness were found to be low or absent in the health facilities, and none of the six districts had a medical waste management program in place. Health staff attended pre-training workshops, where they were provided with educational materials including training books, lectures, posters and appropriate tests and governmental documents. Next, staff attended training sessions that gave them the tools and knowledge to properly classify and sort medical waste by type (hazardous, sharps, etc.); to package, store and transport waste; and to utilize the technologies used to treat medical waste.
Soon after these training sessions, the medical waste management program was implemented in all health facilities and supervised by the project from April to May 2015. Project managers met with a total of 575 health supervisors and employees during this phase, ensuring that they retained knowledge from the training sessions and had all the necessary materials to educate further staff members who could not attend the classes.
Two types of autoclaves with 19-liter and 51-liter steam chambers were installed in the selected health facilities in June 2015. On-site training and commissioning was conducted in the facilities and a national dissemination meeting was held in August 2015 in Hanoi to discuss program extension opportunities throughout other provinces in Vietnam.
Residents living near health facilities with incinerators noticed a drastic difference when the autoclaves were installed. Ha Quang District in Cao Bang Province in particular experienced some of the heaviest pollution caused by a malfunctioning incinerator. Dr. Nguyen Huy Nga, a professor and senior consultant for the Ministry of Health, said it was a common problem in the two provinces that “some incinerators were already old, obsolete or they created smoke with a bad smell.” Be Thi Bach, coordinator of the Cao Bang Project Management Unit within the district’s health department, said the use of autoclaves has made a tangible difference in the environment. She said, “In the past, for medical waste disposal, the district hospital would treat medical waste by incinerator directly, and this technology created a bad smell and pollution to the surrounding areas. With this new technology, we can avoid air and water pollution.”

Going forward, project VIE/027 has identified other areas in which the health facilities could benefit, including the need for safety tools like aprons and protective glasses, as well as shredder machines to reduce the volume of waste that is being treated. Health facility managers also said they would like to take the green project one step further by recycling waste that has already been sanitized, including plastic and glass products.

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- 26 Octobre
- Par Liliana Aragon, Oficina Regional de Managua
- Bureau régional de Managua
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La Calidad, nuestro compromiso en LuxDev
LuxDev por más de diez años ha cumplido su compromiso de desarrollar un Sistema de Gestión de Calidad estándar en todas sus operaciones, mejorando sus servicios y alcanzando altos niveles de eficiencia y eficacia tanto en la sede central como en todas sus oficinas regionales (Dakar, Hanói, Managua, Uagadugú, Praia y Pristina).

Este compromiso la hizo merecedora de la Certificación ISO 9001:2000 en el año 2005, convirtiéndose, al conocimiento de LuxDev, en la primera Agencia de cooperación bilateral en contar con dicha acreditación.

La Norma ISO 9001:2000 (actualmente en vigencia la versión ISO 9001:2008) es una herramienta enfocada a la mejora continua de la calidad y por tanto a la satisfacción del cliente. Dentro de los requisitos de la Norma se contempla la certificación periódica del sistema, así como la planificación de auditorías internas periódicas para la consecución de los objetivos.

A nivel de la Oficina regional de Managua iniciamos un arduo proceso previo de preparación para la Certificación lo que fue de enorme beneficio para nuestra oficina ya que permitió, a partir de entonces, ordenar y uniformizar todas nuestras herramientas e instrumentos de trabajo y extenderlas hacia nuestros proyectos. Anualmente la Oficina regional también elabora un Plan de Calidad que abarca los principios y procesos que establece la Norma con objetivos y acciones concretas, procurando siempre la mejora continua en el desempeño de nuestras labores.

La Certificación ISO ha permitido que LuxDev en estos diez años tenga una sola herramienta de trabajo para los servicios operativos de la Agencia, el Manual Calidad que es permanentemente actualizado y permite garantizar una coherencia en el enfoque profesional de los aproximadamente 100 colaboradores que tiene la Agencia en la sede y en sus oficinas regionales, así que para los más de 400 colaboradores que trabajan directamente en los proyectos y programas.

Gracias al trabajo, esfuerzo y compromiso de todos sus colaboradores, LuxDev continúa siendo una institución comprometida, cerca de sus socios, fiable, reactiva, flexible e innovadora!
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- 19 Octobre
- Par Rik Delnoije, CTA
- Bureau régional de Vientiane LAO/026
- Agriculture et Sécurité alimentaire
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Laos - Turning capital into pro-poor results: building a convincing case for direct financing of village level entities
Luxembourg Development Cooperation project LAO/026 Technical Assistance to the Soum Son Seun Jai (SSSJ) Programme in Sayabouly province commenced in early January 2013. This three-year Luxembourg co-financing project of 1.7 million EUR supports the provision of technical assistance (TA) to the 15 M USD SSSJ programme funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The project has entered its final year of implementation. During this last year some deliberate changes have been realized with regards to the project’s operational mode.

The major change has been the reallocation of the project budget to support the introduction of innovative financing and implementation modalities into the Programme. This is achieved through the signing of Delegation Agreements for Funds and Implementation with community level entities. In this regard, a total of 25 Delegation Agreements were signed, financing nearly100 prioritized activities worth 300 000 EUR in total, wherein 200 000 EUR are being earmarked to support 15 Community Development Funds and another 100 000 EUR support activity plans of ten selected Agricultural Producer Groups. While the budget contracted to Community Development Funds merely finance village level infrastructure such as sanitation or school facilities, the Agricultural Producer Groups have allocated their investment partly towards productive activities like the purchase of agro-processing equipment.

The signing of Delegation Agreements for Funds and Implementation with community level entities within project LAO/026 has triggered a tremendous burst of activities. Partnering communities enthusiastically started implementing community plans and collective investments ranging from building schools and sanitation facilities to processing of wild tea or collective pig-raising. The usually rather quiet villages are buzzing with activities; village meetings are held to discuss designs and budgets, labour is mobilized and local materials collected while construction of village infrastructure is on-going at a pace unknown and unseen before.

Most agreements became effective in June 2015, and per end of October, four months on the road, half of the planned activities are under implementation and/or being finalized already. Consequently, of the 300 000 EUR worth of planned investments, the depletion rate accounts for 50%.

Four months into implementation, the bare physical sight of villages has changed dramatically. with the appearance of sanitation facilities, running water, storage houses, flood protection works, which were all very much needed but never realized due to the lack of funds. Even more important, the spirit of villagers have taken a turn; villagers express confidence and satisfaction about their activities and the positive changes happening in their village; everybody is extremely proud to be the leading force behind all this action. In fact communities grabbed the offered opportunity with both hands and changed from passive receivers of development support to active shapers and owners of their village’s development. So far this has been a successful example of putting funds into action directly at village level whilst benefitting the most disadvantaged.

_{Being in charge means that villagers are fully responsible for planning, calculating and administrating collective investments. Enabling this required substantial training input and on-the-job coaching by the project advisors.}

_{The Village Development Committee of the ethnic Khamu village Hoyka in Pak Beng District received 13 350 EUR for the construction of sanitation, erosion control works and a village meeting hall. 8 weeks after having received the money the village has for the first time in its history complete coverage of sanitation facilities, while the erosion control works have last month prevented the otherwise yearly flooding of the village. The community-meeting hall is under construction. While the project has made available the financing for the external materials for the construction like cement, ceramic sanitation and roofing, villagers have contributed through their labour input and provision of local materials.}

_{The Pig Producer Group in the ethnic Lanten village Paknamthong received 8 989 EUR for the purchase of a fodder mill and construction of housing for the mill and the construction of collective pigpens. The high labour input has been the main obstacle for scaling their pig fattening business. Through collective fattening, meaning the physical construction of collective pigpens and more importantly the development of a collective system of rotating labour input, group members are now able to expand their business substantially. While the project financed the materials for the construction of the pigpens and the purchase of the fodder mill, villagers have contributed equally through their labour input, provision of local materials and stocking the pens with piglets.}

_{Investment by the project: 3 000 EUR, additional investment by the village (material and labour) 2 600 EUR. Household level sanitation facilities were costed at 70 EUR per household.}

“For the first time in the history of our village we now have access to running water and the best thing: we did it ourselves”: statement by the Head of Village Poutouy, Saysathan District – Sayabouly Province.

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- 19 Octobre
- Par Sisavanh Vongkatangnou, Community Development
- LAO/024
- Développement local
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Laos – Khammouane : Village Development Plans finalized in Mahaxay, Nakai and Boualapha
In August, three meetings were held in the Administration Offices of Mahaxay District, Nakai and Boualapha Districts in order to finalize the Village Development Plans in close consultation with representatives of the target villages. The two-day meetings were chaired by the vice-governors of each district and representatives of the target villages presented 12 - 13 priority activities that were identified as the data collection and discussions among 50 – 80 villagers during the period of March – May 2015. Estimation of occurring financial inputs of each of these activities as estimated by the district technical offices were also presented in these meetings.

Each village gave a short presentation, on which the district technical offices, KHALODEP staff and the districts’ vice-governors made their comments. Ensuing discussion focused on the proposed activities and their priority ranking with regard to feasibility of the works, KHALODEP’s policies, villagers’ perception and the districts’ need to coordinate the investment among villages, such as to consider providing a school to a group of two or three villages that are close to each other.

After discussion, the village representatives have revised their priority ranking and keeping in mind that KHALODEP has an average of approximately 350 million LAK (39 000 EUR) available for infrastructure work for each village. And for the next five years, the project will also provide an average amount of 180 million LAK (20 000 EUR) under the Village Development Fund activity of the project that will be managed by the villagers themselves. Although the final proposed activities under the Village Development Fund will only be decided after intensive training to the villagers on funding procedures, the intended investment is also relevant for the prioritisation as it may be used for small community infrastructure, which subsequently will serve to increase income-generating activities.

As the result of the meetings, KHALODEP now has a better understanding of the current conditions of the infrastructure in the target districts as well as their priorities to use the funds from the Government of Luxembourg. The final decision on the infrastructure works to be funded will be further subjected to feasibility studies and consultation with the villagers. The plan is to start with one construction per district in 2015. Training on Village Development Fund will be held in October and the project expects to sign the delegation agreements with the villagers in November – December this year.

Those works that have not been given the highest priority for KHALODEP funding will be retained for consideration for funding under the 5-year Village Development Plan for inclusion into the updated districts’ socio-economic development plan 2016–2020. The completed Village Development Plans, co-signed by the head of the village and district’s governor, will soon be distributed by the District Planning Office to all relevant stakeholders, including other development partners.
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- 13 Octobre
- Par Alice Risch
- Bureau Sénégal Bureau régional de Managua Bureau Burkina Faso Bureau Cabo Verde Bureau Kosovo
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Signature de la Charte de la Médiation par LuxDev
LuxDev fait partie des 20 premières entreprises et organisations qui, le 9 octobre 2015, ont signé la Charte de la Médiation lors d’une cérémonie officielle organisée par le CMCC (Centre de Médiation civile et commerciale), ensemble avec la Chambre des Métiers et la Chambre de Commerce.

En tant que signataire de la Charte de la Médiation, LuxDev s’engage, lorsque l’Agence se retrouve dans une situation pouvant mener à un contentieux inter- ou intra-entreprise, d’opter tout d’abord pour un processus de médiation afin de trouver une solution amiable au litige.

« En tant que processus confidentiel qui permet de régler des différends de façon efficiente, la médiation me semble particulièrement intéressante pour le monde des entreprises. Par ailleurs, elle constitue une méthode efficace de prévention de conflits. De par les valeurs qui la sous-tendent, elle s’intègre parfaitement dans la démarche RSE poursuivie par l’Agence », souligne Gaston Schwartz, Directeur général de LuxDev.

Gaston Schwartz, Directeur général de LuxDev lors de la signature officielle de la Charte de la Médiation
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- 1 Octobre
- Par Alain Jaquemin
- VIE/033
- Développement local
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Vietnam - Dyke upgrade in Phu Loc District brings peace of mind to 1700 households
Bau Duoc dyke has a direct impact on the agricultural production as well as transportation efficiency and safety for nearly 2 000 people in Loc An commune. Whereas the dyke functions as a protective levee against flooding of around 250 hectares of paddy field it also serves as a key means for farmers to transport their produce during the harvest season. The dyke will also take local populations from Chau Thanh village to the centre of the commune.

Prior to the renovation, being a low-lying and vulnerable earthen embankment with small crest, the dyke would get severely damaged by floods every year. As such, it did not do much to protect people’s livelihoods, and making use of the dyke for transportation purposes would at times be cumbersome, and dangerous as well.

With financial support of the Luxembourg Development Cooperation, Bau Duoc dyke was upgraded and put into operation in May 2015. The dyke base of 921m was enlarged and reinforced, the slopes of the embankment protected with concrete slabs, the surface macadamized and three drainage culverts were added to regulate water levels. Further, an access road of 450m was built to connect the dyke with other in-field roads as well as residential areas.

“The new dyke is very effective and helpful for farmers as it now protects 250 hectares of two-crop rice fields cultivated by around 1 700 households from being inundated during the summer and early-year floods”, says Mr Hoang Thi, Vice-Director of Dai Thanh Agricultural Cooperative. “In addition, it helps local farmers save a lot of money, to the tune of 210 million Vietnam dong (over 8 000 EUR) every year, which they would otherwise have to spend on repairing the annual damage to the embankment. Farmers of the four Agricultural Cooperatives of Dai Thanh, Tien Loc, Hai Ha and Chau Thanh are currently using the dyke to visit their rice fields and transport their agricultural produce, as well as for other daily activities”. Mr Thi further stressed the important role the upgraded dyke plays for people’s safety, as “the dyke reduces the risk for 116 households in Chau Thanh village, who are no longer isolated and can be easily evacuated to a safety shelter in the commune centre during heavy floods or typhoons”.

Many of the interviewed local farmers said that the newly upgraded dyke of Bau Duoc would have a positive impact on their production. Mr Nguyen Xuan Hoa, who owns 2 500m2 of paddy field and is a member of Dai Thanh Agricultural Cooperative says: “Since the dyke was put into service nearly three months ago, and due to the time we save on going back and forth to our fields, my family and I have been able to increase the time and frequency of visiting and tending to our fields. We strongly believe this will increase our rice production”.

Mrs Nguyen Thi A’s son nearly died from drowning during last year’s floods. Herself a rice farmer, she stated “It is now very convenient and safe for us to go to the local market and for my children to go to school by themselves on the newly upgraded dyke road. It gives me more time to work on knitting fishing nets which earns us additional income for the family”. Besides safety and peace of mind for her family, she mentions a social benefit that came with the new dyke: “Previously, I was unable to attend the evening events organised in the commune centre because of the dangerous road after sunset. Things have changed now and I can safely attend community and Women’s Union meetings”.

The upgraded Bau Duoc dyke has significant direct economic and social benefits for farmers and residents alike. It not only contributes to higher yields, but also protects families and their livelihoods from the increasing frequency and severity of climate change impacts.

Construction or upgrading of dyke roads is one of many types of infrastructure interventions under project VIE/033. Six such dyke roads were built in the project’s three target districts over the last 18 months, to the benefit of more than 2 800 households (ca. 14 000 people) and for the protection of 549 hectares of agricultural land.
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