Vietnam's To Lam Calls for Red Cross Shift from Relief to Community Resilience

Party General Secretary and State President To Lam, now Honorary President of the Vietnam Red Cross Society (VRCS), addressed the 12th National Congress of the VRCS in Hanoi on July 28. The meeting, attended by 500 delegates representing more than 5.6 million officials, members, volunteers and youth, marked the society’s 80th anniversary and the start of its 2026‑2031 term.

In his speech, To Lam urged that humanitarian work move beyond emergency relief to become an integral part of Vietnam’s human‑development strategy. He called for a pivot to proactive disaster prevention, early‑warning systems, livelihood support and capacity‑building, linking the state, society, businesses and citizens. He stressed the need for community‑based disaster risk management, including local emergency response forces, first‑aid networks and safe‑community models, and advocated for a unified humanitarian database using big‑data, AI and digital platforms.

The leader set five‑year targets for the VRCS: assist more than 50 million people, expand membership to over 1 million, maintain over 200 000 active volunteers, mobilise roughly 9 million units of blood and provide first‑aid training to 1.5‑2 million people. He also highlighted the importance of cooperation with the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and other development partners.