On July 28, 2024, the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Thua Thien Hue Province in collaboration with Campaign Tobacco-Free for Kids (CTFK) and Hue Help, organized a ceremony to celebrate the World Drowning Prevention Day at Hue Youth Center. This is also the very first celebration of WDPD in Thua Thien Hue province.

The ceremony aims to propagate and mobilize children to be aware of protecting themselves in the water environment, equipping them with safety skills in the water and promoting the roles and responsibilities of all levels, sectors, families, schools and the whole society in drowning prevention. During the ceremony, all levels, sectors and local authorities jointly committed to implementing the plan, striving for 60% of children from 6 to under 16 years old to know safety skills in the water environment by 2025 and 70% by 2030; 50% of children from 6 to under 16 years old will know how to swim safely by 2025 and 60% by 2030.

The celebration consisted of many different activities such as land-based rescue demonstrations on stage and at swimming pool; drawing contest; drama/play and knowledge contests about drowning prevention. Hue Help participated in demonstrating land-based rescue skills and got students to practice at the swimming pool.

Every year in the world, nearly a quarter of a million people lose their lives to drowning, and almost 82,000. Drowning is the leading cause of death in children in Vietnam. Every year nearly 2,000 children die from drowning. Drowning can happen in a single moment. But with the right awareness and actions, what happens in those seconds can also be changed – for the better.

We hope that more and more children will be equipped with water safety knowledge, swimming skills, survival skills and land-based rescue skills. Together we can help Vietnamese children to be safe in and around the water.