Typhoon Yagi has wreaked havoc in several South East Asian countries. Violent winds – followed by torrential rainfall – battered the Philippines, China and then Vietnam, causing widespread destruction. In Vietnam, the severe weather inundated many localities and triggered major landslides. Mountainous regions were especially hard-hit. Given the magnitude of the requirements, the Vietnamese authorities issued an appeal for international aid.

Switzerland swiftly offered its assistance. The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs has today dispatched a team of six experts from the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit. The team, comprising specialists in water and sanitation, emergency shelter, and disaster risk reduction, will assist the Vietnamese authorities in assessing needs and formulating short- and medium-term responses.

Family tents and water systems

The SDC is also arranging to send relief supplies, including 300 family tents and two water distribution systems capable of serving 10,000 people. In the immediate term, the SDC is liaising with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to deliver essential goods financed by Switzerland to the affected areas.

The SDC has earmarked CHF 1 million to support the affected populations. It is also one of the largest contributors to the Disaster Response Emergency Fund of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC-DREF), which has likewise released funds to support relief operations. Vietnam is a priority country for the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), which is currently exploring the reallocation of some of its activities to address the needs arising from the disaster.

The evacuations and other preventive measures implemented by the authorities have helped to minimise the number of victims. Nevertheless, thousands of people required evacuation, and to date, several hundred people are reported dead or missing. Vietnam has not faced a natural catastrophe of this magnitude in over three decades.

Typhoon Yagi in Vietnam: Switzerland dispatches six experts and allocates 1 million Swiss francs