520,000 # of children affected out of 2,000,000 # of people affected
600,000 # Hectares of crop damaged
1,750,000 # people lost incomes
52 (18 most affected) # provinces affected out of Government-One UN Joint Emergency Response Plan 2016:
US$48.5 million
UN funds received: $12.0 million
UNICEF funds received: US$4 million
Funding gap: US$32.5 million
Highlights
Since January 2016, intense drought and saltwater intrusion have severely affected more than 2 million people in 18 provinces. Although drought conditions are over in the Mekong Delta, they are still on-going in South-Central and the Central Highlands of Viet Nam, and may last until the end of September 2016.
Water has been available due to seasonal rain fall in Mekong Delta, South Central Coast and Central Highlands region. However, demand for clean and safe drinking water is needed for household consumption. Lack of safe drinking water and poor hygiene conditions pose high public health risks to vulnerable communities in affected provinces. The effective of this situation on affected households is severe and needs still more pertinent response and support particularly in terms of water purification, hygiene promotion, nutritional support and livelihood recovery.
Government report indicate that by 7th July 2016 in the 10 target provinces where UNICEF is working, a total of 202,472 households (911,124 women, men and children) are still suffered from water problems. UNICEF’s aim is to reach approximately 358,954 (39%) of the total affected people suffering from water stress.
Outlook: there is a 75% likelihood that La Niña conditions will occur from September onwards. La Niña, which is characterized by cooler than normal water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, usually results in greater than average rainfall, increasing the risk of flooding – particularly in drought-affected areas.
Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs
The ongoing El Niño-induced drought and saline intrusion emergency has adversely impacted the lives of people in 52 out of 64 provinces. In the most affected 18 provinces, 2 million people including 520,000 children and 1 million women, are in need of humanitarian assistance. Of the total 2 million people affected, some 500,000 live in the drought-affected South Central and Central Highlands Regions, and 1.5 million live in the Mekong Delta, where water shortages have been exacerbated by the saltwater intrusion.
With recent rainfall, the situation in the Mekong Delta has improved although impact of saline intrusion is yet to change.
Reduced water use for washing, ablution, and hand-washing, have already resulted in increased incidence of diarrhea, dysentery, hand, foot and mouth disease, and skin diseases.
The poor access to water has also had an impact on children’s health, exacerbating the prevalence of malnutrition.
There is a 75% likelihood that La Niña conditions will occur from September onward. La Niña, which is characterized by cooler than normal water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, usually results in greater than average rainfall, increasing the risk of large flooding in Mekong delta provinces – particularly in drought-affected areas. The Mekong River delta plays an important role in the Vietnamese economy and it has been severely impacted by a series of unusually drought and large floods. In the dry season the delta is impacted by salinity intrusion and tides. These effects have caused severe human hardship.