On 6/3, the Prime Minister decided to establish the Central Civil Defense Fund. Its purpose is to receive, manage, and utilize voluntary contributions from organizations and individuals, both domestic and international. It also incorporates transfers from provincial civil defense funds and transfers from off-budget state financial funds related to incident and disaster response and recovery efforts.

Managed by the Ministry of National Defense, the fund operates on a non-profit basis. It supports civil defense activities where state budget investment is lacking or inadequate.

The fund's revenue sources include voluntary contributions from organizations and individuals, both within Vietnam and abroad. It also receives transfers from off-budget state financial funds associated with incident and disaster response and consequence mitigation, as well as transfers from provincial civil defense funds and interest generated from deposit accounts.

Quan doi dung leu ho tro nguoi dan vung ngap Khanh Hoa tranh tru, thang 11/2025. Anh: Bui Toan

According to the decision, the fund provides emergency relief, including food, drinking water, medicine, and other essential necessities, for those affected by incidents and disasters. It also supports repairing or constructing homes, medical facilities, schools, and transportation routes.

The fund further supports emergency response activities when incidents or disasters exceed local handling capacity. It aids in consequence mitigation in severely damaged areas and provides emergency allowances for victims, their families, and those injured while participating in incident and disaster response and recovery efforts.

Additionally, the fund supports emergency projects for incident and disaster response and consequence mitigation. It also finances warning, monitoring, surveillance, and information dissemination activities related to incidents and disasters.

The fund must comply with inspection, examination, and auditing by competent state agencies. It is also required to publicize its regulations, operational results, and implementation reports.

In 6/2023, the National Assembly passed the Civil Defense Law, which stipulates the establishment of a civil defense fund before incidents or disasters occur. Explaining to the National Assembly, Minister of National Defense Phan Van Giang stated that establishing the fund proactively stems from experiences in responding to the Covid-19 pandemic.

He recalled that when the pandemic erupted, the Prime Minister directed the armed forces and the health sector to urgently establish field hospitals. Despite equipment challenges, the military deployed 16 field hospitals with capacities of 500-1,000 beds in many localities by mobilizing available resources.

Military mobile vehicles, originally used to produce oxygen for special forces, were also mobilized to supply oxygen to hospitals. According to the Minister of National Defense, preparing forces, resources, and reserve funds in advance is essential; waiting until an incident occurs to establish such a fund would make it very difficult to meet response requirements.

Vu Tuan