The initiative of operating Emergency Kindergartens (EKs) to care for young children during flood seasons has been considered as a successful model in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam by the flood management authorities in the past few years. It is because this model provides basic care, education, and safety for young children. The EKs have helped to considerably reduce the number of child drowning cases as well as provide some forms of education for these children. In addition, this model also contributes to help parents continue their work during flood time to earn a living for the whole family.

In order to comprehensively assess the effectiveness of this initiative for replication during future floods in the Mekong Delta, the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) in collaboration with the Component 4 of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) Flood Management and Mitigation Program (FMMP) and the Flood Emergency Management
Strengthening (FEMS) Project, with funding support from the Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer
Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH, in January 2008, has conducted an assessment of the EKs in
An Giang province, Vietnam.

Objective: The objective of this assessment is to identify the gaps and needs in emergency
kindergarten establishment, maintenance, and upgrading in conjunction with the existing
provincial and district Flood and Storm Control Plans.