Vietnam: Climate Change & DRR

Developed by children in Vietnam, this video shares their experience with Typhoon Ketsana and explores how they plan to protect their communities from future disasters. Typhoon Ketsana killed more than 160 people, destroyed 21,000 houses, and ruined 100,000 hectares of agricultural land when it hit Vietnam in 2009.

The children, who are from an ethnic minority group, were given media training by the organisation Plan as part of a programme to give a voice to traditionally excluded people. Plan asserts that "[m]arginalised groups are rarely included in discussions and decisions on policies and programmes that affect their lives."

In this participatory video (PV), the children speak about their daily lives and how the typhoon affected their communities. They also present solutions for community awareness raising and advocacy messages to reduce the risks in future disasters, including keeping water sources clean, setting up food storage systems, and ensuring children receive medical care when the next disaster strikes.

According to Plan, PV is an innovative methodology in disaster risk reduction (DRR) because it not only showcases grassroots' concerns and needs, but it also supports beneficiaries' own efforts to address their issues locally. This participatory approach allows children to develop their own video while media experts provide initial training and ongoing support as required by the children.