Through the ICAM project, CARE works with women and men who are most at risk from the impacts of climate change and natural hazards, to increase the resilience of communities in the Mekong Delta.

Background

Vietnam is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to the impacts of climate change. Increasingly erratic conditions pose new challenges for the majority of the 17 million residents of the Mekong Delta, who rely on natural resources for their livelihoods. The ability to adapt to climate change is therefore essential for both the survival and development of these communities.

Objective of ICAM

Through ICAM, CARE works with women and men who are most at risk from the impacts of climate change and natural hazards, to increase the resilience of communities in the Mekong Delta.

  • Communities and local authorities plan for community-based climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction. Community plans then inform government socio-economic development and sectoral planning, within sectors such as disaster risk reduction, agriculture, and health.
  • Communities, especially those most at risk from the impacts of climate change, have improved resilience: their livelihoods are more robust and diversified; and they are more aware of climate change, its impacts, and what to do about it.
  • Project learnings, a strengthened civil society, and the capacity of authorities provide a foundation for the scale-up of community-based, equitable, and gender-sensitive adaptation.

How does ICAM work?

CAPACITY STRENGTHENING FOR COMMUNITIES, AUTHORITIES, AND CIVIL SOCIETY

MULTIPLYING IMPACT

  • Integration of community-based adaptation plans into government planning processes.
  • Replication of climate-resilient livelihoods and climate-smart disaster risk reduction, through farmer field schools, community groups, and mass organizations, led by government and civil society partners.
  • Communes outside of the project area begin to use participatory gender-sensitive climate risk analysis and planning, led by communities, local authorities, and partners.

CLIMATE RESILIENT LIVELIHOODS

  • Communities can make a living from activities that can resist, absorb, accommodate, and recover from hazards and changing climate conditions.
  • Access to flexible credit and savings options via microfinance groups facilitates livelihood diversification.
  • Development of livelihood-based networks promotes resilience.

DISASTER RISK REDUCTION

  • Communities increase their ability to prepare for and reduce the risks posed by natural hazards that are altered by climate change, by sharing information, participating in training, and developing practical actions.
  • Communities and authorities increase their understanding of how preparedness can build long-term resilience.

CHANGES IN BEHAVIOR

  • Local authorities and civil society improve communication skills and develop materials for climate change awareness, including those in local languages. 
  • Long-term behavior change is facilitated through participatory action-oriented training; a practical method that promotes self-help, voluntary actions, and the use of locally available resources.

COMMUNITY-DRIVEN CLIMATE RISK ANALYSIS AND PLANNING

  • Collaborative analysis of climate risks and adaptation options, between communities and the local authorities, is conducted. The resulting action plans inform approaches to livelihoods, disaster risk reduction, and behavior change.
  • Members of different ethnic groups, women, the land poor, and the landless, are supported to communicate their experiences and concerns through community digital storytelling.
  • Communities plan for a resilient future by accounting for different climate scenarios.

Participants of ICAM

>3.000
women		 >2.000
men
living in poverty, and who are at risk from the impacts of climate change: particularly women, the land-poor, and the landless.

Location

33 villages in 5 communes in An Giang and Soc Trang provinces, in the Mekong Delta

Time

7/2012 – 12/2015

Donor