UNICEF has provided water purification supplies to government partners for distribution to households, hospitals, health facilities, and schools in three northern Vietnamese provinces which have been affected by super typhoon Yagi.

The typhoon, one of the most powerful to strike Vietnam in decades, made landfall on the country’s northeastern coast on Saturday last week, causing severe storm damage, widespread flooding, landslides, and flash floods.

To support the Vietnamese government’s response to the devastating typhoon, UNICEF delivered 80,000 water purification tablets to the Center for Disease Control in Thai Nguyen Province and 4,000 liters of water to Lao Cai Provincial Hospital in Lao Cai Province to ensure its 800 patients had access to water.

UNICEF plans to continue delivering essential supplies, including water purification tablets, water tanks, ceramic filters, hand sanitizers, and soap to households, schools, and healthcare facilities in Yen Bai and Lao Cai Provinces over the next several days.  

"UNICEF is committed to urgently providing sustained support to the government of Vietnam to ensure children and families have access to essential services," said Silvia Danailov, the UN body’s representative in Vietnam.

“We have already started to deliver life-saving support and are mobilizing resources to address the massive needs."

She noted that the devastation caused by the typhoon is a tragic reminder of the disproportionate impact extreme weather events, intensified by climate change, have on children.

Nearly 19 million people, including 5.5 million children, live in the hardest-hit provinces and cities, including Lao Cai, Tuyen Quang, Cao Bang, Yen Bai, Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, and Hanoi.

Typhoon Yagi has devastated 26 northern provinces, leaving 324 people dead or missing, including 24 children.

The storm has caused significant damage to over 141,400 homes, 550 health facilities, and 805 schools, leaving around 400,000 homes without safe drinking water.

Approximately two million children have been left without access to education, psychosocial support, and school meal programs.

According to national authorities, more downpours are likely in many parts of the country, with flash floods and landslides still ravaging villages and communities in those northern provinces, which are home to a large number of vulnerable communities, including several ethnic minorities.

In support of the Vietnamese government’s effective disaster response, UNICEF’s priorities include providing water treatment and sanitation supplies to households, health facilities and schools; delivering emergency medical supplies to health centers in the most affected areas; supporting the reopening of schools by providing temporary learning spaces and educational materials; and extending psychosocial support to children affected by the trauma of the calamity.

UNICEF also plans to provide children and families in the most devastated areas with emergency kits, while offering cash assistance to the vulnerable households with children and pregnant women, allowing them to meet urgent needs and recover more quickly from the disaster.

The organization is mobilizing resources to ensure emergency aid is provided as quickly as possible.

An initial US$11 million is urgently required to be able to deliver on its mandate to assist the most vulnerable children.

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