When the Kien Giang river flooded, the damage to the community of My Thuy was minimal due to women’s leadership. The Viet Nam Women’s Union and UN Women are supporting women like Huong Duong, a local shopkeeper, to be disaster preparedness “communicators” in their towns, monitoring for floods and preparing their neighbors for the worst to reduce the risk of severe damage, injuries and even death. While women are disproportionately vulnerable to climate change and natural disasters, their work on mitigating the impacts of these risks often goes unacknowledged. Photo credit: UN Women Viet Nam/Hoang Hiep
