Mr. Bui Quang Huy - Deputy Director of DMPTC - delivered the opening speech of the training courses.

The training program was organized in coordination between the Center for Policy and Technology for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women). More than 100 officials working in natural disaster prevention and control (PCTT) at the provincial, district and commune levels participated in the training course.

At the training course, Lao Cai provincial officials were introduced by lecturers from the Center to the following contents:
- Viewpoints and orientations on the application of information technology in supporting the direction and management of natural disaster prevention at all levels.
- Introduction to the role and functions of the natural disaster monitoring system in Lao Cai province.
- Instructions on the use and exploitation of the natural disaster monitoring system in Lao Cai province.
- Gender mainstreaming, prevention of gender-based violence and inclusion of vulnerable groups in natural disaster prevention.
- Instructions on developing a plan for disaster prevention and control that integrates gender and prevention of gender-based violence.

Ms. Do Thi Hong Nhung - Head of Policy and Training Department, DMPTC - guides trainees in accessing, using and exploiting the natural disaster monitoring system of Lao Cai province.

Within the framework of the training course on capacity building for disaster prevention and control, trainees from the provincial and communal levels in Lao Cai province expressed special interest in the provincial disaster monitoring system. According to the trainees, the development of tools and interconnected databases, providing real-time disaster forecasting and early warning information to the people is a key factor, contributing to improving the effectiveness of disaster prevention and control work and actively supporting the direction and administration work at the local level.

Notably, in the context that Lao Cai is implementing a two-level local government model and is expected to merge with Yen Bai province after July 1, 2025 to form a new Lao Cai province with a total of 99 communes, the trainees expressed their desire to continue receiving support from UN Women and related organizations to upgrade and expand the disaster monitoring system to meet new practical requirements.

Sharing at the training course, trainee Nguyen Thi Toi - officer of the Irrigation Department, Department of Agriculture and Environment of Lao Cai province said: “Previously, to collect information from the locality, we only needed to contact the focal points in 9 districts and towns in the province. However, currently, with the two-level local government model, provincial disaster prevention and control officers must directly contact 48 communes, leading to a significant increase in workload. Applying information technology, building a disaster monitoring system that is interconnected within the province and integrating data with the central monitoring system will be the key to improving the effectiveness of direction and operation. Therefore, we really hope to continue to participate in in-depth training courses to be able to effectively use this system.”

Trainee Nguyen Thi Toi - officer of the Irrigation Department, Department of Agriculture and Environment of Lao Cai province - shared at the training course.

At the training course, trainees from the provincial and communal levels shared many opinions related to adding the function of updating and connecting damage data in the province's natural disaster monitoring system. In particular, some localities have special crops with high economic value (such as orchids in Sa Pa town) that cannot be clearly mentioned in the statistics according to Circular 43. In addition, the need for connecting damage data reports between the province and commune in the province's natural disaster monitoring system was also emphasized.

These shares were listened to, received, answered by the Center's lecturers and will be proposed and recommended to the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) to find timely support solutions, meeting the urgent needs of localities in the context of merging administrative boundaries and strengthening local disaster prevention and control capacity.

Some pictures at the training course:

Instructions for exploiting and using the Lao Cai PDMS.

Guidance on developing disaster prevention and control plans with gender mainstreaming and gender-based violence prevention and control and exploiting gender-disaggregated economic and social databases to serve disaster prevention and control planning development.