Workshop and Field Visit in Đông Hà Aid Project Alignment Among Stakeholders

The interim workshop and field visit held on 29-31 March 2022 in Đông Hà, Viet Nam facilitated understanding and alignment among stakeholders on the infrastructure works and capacity building measures that can be implemented to improve climate resilience and livability in the city.

The activities marked the midpoint of the CDIA-supported project preparation study (PPS) for the Urban Development, Green Growth and Climate Resilience Project pipelined for Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and European Union (EU) funding.

“We highly appreciate the interest of CDIA and AFD in supporting Đông Hà,” said Mr. Pham Van Dung, Vice Chairman of People’s Committee of Đông Hà. “We believe it will contribute to climate change resilience and adaptation, create favorable conditions for infrastructure development, and improve livelihoods toward a greener and more sustainable future for the city,” he added.

A total of 45 officials attended the workshop either in person or virtually, representing city, provincial and national governments; various wards; women’s union; local organizations; and development partners.

The workshop served as a venue for project stakeholders to come together to better understand the proposed sub-projects focusing on river embankments, drainage and stormwater management, livability and climate change adaptation measures, and other service improvements in low-income areas.

As the hydraulic modeling showed the strong vulnerability of the city to flooding, they discussed the various technical options and how to better integrate landscape and green infrastructure approach to make the investments more beneficial for the city.

Stakeholders also discussed the scope of the capacity development program, and the activities that will be supported by EU’s Water and Natural Resources Management Facility to improve the resilient trajectory of Đông Hà and become a pilot city for urban resilience in Viet Nam. Furthermore, they identified concrete next steps until the end of the CDIA PPS in June 2022, and the AFD loan agreement signing.

The AFD delegation, led by Hervé Conan, Country Director in Viet Nam and Clément Larrue, Regional Urban Development Task Team Leader joined the CDIA consulting team and local counterparts in visiting the project sites, such as the Hieu River, Trung Chi Lake and low-income areas. The proposed improvements and landscape interventions in these areas will help: 1) address climate change impacts such as increased rainfall intensity, flooding and erosion; 2) provide a more attractive living environment; and 3) create employment opportunities.

The CDIA PPS aims to formulate and prepare to feasibility study and preliminary engineering design level, an integrated infrastructure investment project and capacity building roadmap in readiness for downstream AFD and EU financing.  It will support the objective of the city to overcome its infrastructure gaps particularly in low-income areas, at the same time incorporate climate resilience and green growth approach to sustainable development, as adopted by the Government of Viet Nam. CDIA is undertaking the PPS with funding support from AFD and EU.

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