Study on Local Community Institutions to Cope with the Flood Situation of the Mekong Region

Annual flooding is an integral part of the nature of the Mekong River systems. Floods bring benefits to humans. However, severe floods might, if not being well managed, cause tremendous damage to people’s lives through destructive impacts on infrastructure, the ecological environment and disturbance to livelihood activities of inhabitants living in flood-prone areas. Cambodia and Vietnam are located in the most downstream part of the Lower Mekong Basin and share a large proportion of the Basin’s flood-prone area. Hydrological regimes in the Cambodian and Vietnamese Mekong floodplains are inter-related. Moreover, there are commonalities across physical and social-economic settings. Getting an understanding of the local institutions involved in flood coping is of great importance to developing strategic solutions to trans-boundary flood management in the lower Mekong Basin. A study, which was carried out in floodprone areas in Cambodia and Viet Nam, aimed to:

(i) evaluate the current institutional framework and activities of the Committee for Disaster Management (Cambodia) and the Committee for Flood and Storm Control (Viet Nam) to flood coping at different administrative levels;

(ii) propose appropriate institutional framework and policies to flood coping, giving special attention to real needs of local communities in flood-prone areas; and

(iii) increase exchanges of flood coping knowledge and experience amongst policy makers, governmental officials and researchers of the two countries, and
thereby establish a partnership in trans-boundary flood management in theCambodian and Vietnamese Mekong delta.

The study was undertaken during 2008 in bordering flood-prone areas between Cambodia and Viet Nam, covering four provinces: Takeo, Svey Rieng (Cambodia) and their adjacent An Giang and Dong Thap (Viet Nam). From each province one indicative district was selected, from which two representative communes were identified as study sites. Participatory approaches were applied, including participatory workshops with local stakeholders at different administrative levels, focus group discussions with different social groups at the community level and verification of results with local authorities.

Results of the study focus on four main issues and are summarised as follows:

1. Institutional framework and activities of the Cambodian CDM and the Vietnamese CFSC

Key findings:

• The CDM and the CFSC take charge of flood and disaster management. The agencies are set up from national, provincial, district to commune levels. In Viet Nam, Flood Security Teams are organised at hamlet level.
• At each level, the CDM and the CFSC are composed of several functional agencies. The coordination, planning, implementing and evaluating processes are undertaken in both vertical and horizontal directions. In Viet Nam, at provincial and district levels, the CFSC is divided into functional subcommittees in order to avoid overlapping roles and responsibilities among line agencies.
• Improvements in the institution and strategies to flood and disaster management in both Cambodia and Viet Nam are: (1) organisational structure, coordination and preparedness planning of the CDM and the CFSC; and (2) integration of short-term flood management into long-term objectives of sustainable development.
• In Viet Nam, the point of view of adapting rather than just coping and the important roles of local communities in flood management are recognised: (1) the concept “living with floods;” and (2) the “four-on-site principle” – the centralisation to community.
• Roles and responsibilities of functional agencies differ with flood periods, particularly in Viet Nam, allowing to improved effectiveness of flood preparedness planning and to reduced overlap of line agencies’ duties.

Recommendations:

• For Cambodia, further improvement of the structure and coordination of the CDM, particularly at local level, needs to be considered. The institutions and the approach to flood management of Vietnamese CFSC could be a model to follow.
• For Viet Nam, the structure of the CFSC at provincial, district and commune levels needs to be improved to minimise overlap of tasks across the CFSC’s member line agencies in different flood periods.
• Preparedness planning, especially for the medium and long-term, needs to be paid more attention, emphasising combined structural and non-structural measures, flood adaptation strategies and roles of local community in both countries.

2. Impacts of the CDM’s and CSFC’s institutional framework and their activities in flood coping

Key findings:

• Improvements to institutional frameworks and activities of the CDM and the CFSC have resulted in enhanced institutional mechanisms at the local level, increased participation of local communities and reduced damage to vulnerable people.
• The combination of structural and non-structural measures in flood coping as well as adaptation is recognised.
• The concept “living with floods” has been implemented successfully in Viet Nam, allowing both reduced risks and damages to people by floods and increased livelihoods of vulnerable groups.
• Decentralisation of flood response to local community has been implemented in Viet Nam through the “four-on-site principle”.
• Functions and roles of both local authorities and internal as well as external NGOs are be enhanced, particularly in Viet Nam.

Recommendations:

• For Cambodia, improvement of institutional mechanisms and human capacity at local levels and an appropriate approach to flood and disaster management would be necessary in order to increase the CDM’s functions.
• For Viet Nam, further improvement of physical and human capacity at the local community level is of great importance, as it enables their participation in flood management processes.

3. Floods and local contexts

Key findings:

• Flood impacts and flood coping strategies by local communities are determined by physical, agro-ecological and socio-economic settings.
• The level of flood coping by households and their livelihoods are closely linked. Better-off people tend to adapt to floods while worse-off people do not cope with floods at all. Livelihoods and capital determine vulnerability of household to deal with floods.

Recommendations:

• Livelihood-based approaches need to be considered for flood and disaster management strategies.
• The establishment of flood maps for more effective and efficient structural and non-structural measures to addressing specific needs of local communities is essential.
• For Cambodia, integrated solutions are essential; including adequate institutional framework at all levels, effective disaster management policies and appropriate approaches to flood management. Vietnamese achievements in flood coping could be a model to follow.
• For Viet Nam, further improvements would be advisable: (1) improving the organisational structure of the CFSC at local level; (2) improving flood preparedness planning, evaluating and reporting processes in consideration of local people’s livelihood niches; and (3) increasing investments for flood prevention and response.

4. Sharing knowledge and experiences between two countries

Key findings:

• Commonalities of the two countries are: floods, local contexts and flood impacts. Differences are: the institutions and the level of coordination of the CDM or the CFSC at all levels, the investments of physical, human and financial capital, and approaches to flood coping.
• Information sharing and development of a partnership in flood management in specific conditions are of great importance.
• Trans-boundary flood management is essential to improve effectiveness of flood forecasting, to minimise negative impacts while maximising benefits from floods.

Recommendations:

• Policy dialogues and institutional mechanisms for the trans-boundary of flood management between the two countries need to be considered annually.
• Flood and disaster management institutions should be involved in periodical meetings of bordering provinces and districts of the two countries.

5. Further research

• Flood mapping for improved early flood warning and structural and nonstructural measure strategies.
• Vulnerability assessments and adaptive strategies of local community to floods and storms in particular and climate change in general in the whole delta, including upstream, midstream and downstream areas in both Cambodian and Vietnamese Mekong deltas.