While most of the world’s attention was on hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria as they tore through the Caribbean and the United States, residents in Vietnam were dealing with their own disaster: Typhoon Doksuri.
The Category 2 typhoon (the Pacific Ocean equivalent to a hurricane) ravaged parts of Central Vietnam on September 15, leaving 1.5 million people in urgent need. The storm, which killed six people, tore the roofs off almost 100,000 homes and damaged another 100,000, leaving approximately 1 million people homeless. Damage to agriculture, aquaculture and infrastructure affected another half a million people.
However, approximately 15,000 of the most vulnerable and hard hit people in Vietnam are receiving timely aid from CARE Canada thanks to $245,000 from a uniquely Canadian funding mechanism. The Canadian Humanitarian Assistance Fund, managed by the Humanitarian Coalition, enables timely, life-saving aid to reach survivors of disasters that receive little media attention.
Families receiving this aid are being identified with local assistance and will focus on female-headed households, pregnant women, elderly women and people with disability whose houses were severely damaged by the typhoon. Aid will focus on shelter, water and hygiene needs.
The Canadian Humanitarian Assistance Fund is a joint mechanism financed by Global Affairs Canada, the Humanitarian Coalition and its member agencies.
-30-
For media inquiries, contact us at 647-517-4563 or media@humanitariancoalition.ca
The Humanitarian Coalition (HC) brings together leading aid organizations to provide Canadians with a simple and effective way to donate during large-scale humanitarian emergencies. The HC also partners with Global Affairs Canada to enable its member agencies to respond to lesser-known small and medium-scale disasters.