(VOVworld) – The US Agency for International Development (USAID) in Vietnam and the Red Cross Society in Nam Dinh on Thursday launched a tree planting campaign to protect the environment in Nam Dien commune.

The campaign is part of the USAID-funded Vietnam Forests and Deltas Program to be carried out in four provinces to strengthen resistance to climate change and reduce natural disaster risk in coastal areas.

It will also strengthen natural disaster management, minimize greenhouse gases, and help localities create a plan to reduce natural disaster risks caused by climate change.

At the inauguration ceremony of the Disaster Management Coordination Center. (Photo: cand.com.vn)

The same day, US Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Susan Sutton and representatives of Ninh Thuan province inaugurated a Disaster Management Coordination Center that will enhance Vietnam’s capacity to respond to natural disasters and aid vulnerable populations when disasters strike.

The new center will help provincial authorities direct evacuations of people from vulnerable homes, stockpile emergency relief supplies, and respond in the aftermath of storms by deploying and communicating with first responders in the hardest-hit areas.

Robert Brown, commanding general of the US Army Pacific, recently donated Quang Phuoc kindergarten to Thua Thien Hue province.

This US Army Corps of Engineers’ humanitarian assistance project was the outcome of a total-government approach to building trust and strengthening relations between the US and Vietnam.