Think about how quickly a piece of news can turn into a life-changing event. A message on a social app, supposedly from a family member, asks for money; the voice sounds exactly like theirs, but it is a computer-generated imitation. A photo of a flooded street is shared thousands of times, even though it was taken years ago in another country. A single tap on a suspicious link can expose bank details or personal documents. These are not science-fiction dangers; they are part of the new landscape of non-traditional security threats. Alongside them, climate change is making floods, droughts, and storms more intense. Epidemics can still interrupt lives and economies. Cybercrime, energy insecurity, and water scarcity are pressuring communities in ways that armies cannot solve. The traditional idea of national security, focused on borders and military strength, is no longer enough. Prevention and response require the participation of every citizen. This is why public awareness campaigns must go beyond simply providing information. They must help people identify risks, learn how to protect themselves, and cooperate proactively when an emergency unfolds. In Vietnam, this understanding has been formalized in a national project: “Propaganda on preventing and responding to non-traditional security threats until 2030, with a vision to 2045,” approved by the Prime Minister under Decision No. 1125/QD-TTg. The project is not a narrow publicity exercise; it is an effort to create a real shift in awareness, responsibility, and action among all levels of government, sectors, armed forces, businesses, and the public. It also aims to strengthen national communication, forecasting, warning, and response capacities. At its heart, the project assumes that informed and empowered citizens are the first line of defense. A person who knows how to verify a suspicious message is less likely to be deceived. A family that understands local flood warnings can move to safety faster. A business that protects its data helps protect the wider economy. The plan therefore does not focus only on officials; it reaches into classrooms, workplaces, neighborhoods, and even homes.
By 2030, the project sets concrete, measurable targets. Every key leader and manager at all levels will be thoroughly briefed on the Party’s guidelines, the State’s policies and laws, and the National Strategy on preventing and responding to non-traditional security threats. Every educational institution will integrate appropriate awareness-raising and education activities into its curriculum and student life. Every province and city will develop and maintain at least one model project on communication and capacity building for prevention and response. Communication content will be woven into the annual work programs and plans of ministries, departments, localities, and armed forces units. This is not a one-size-fits-all campaign. The project insists that content and methods must be tailored to each target group, to geographical characteristics, and to people’s actual capacity to receive information. A farmer in a remote mountain area, a fisherman on an island, an elderly person in a border village, and a young office worker in a big city all face different risks and need different messages. The plan pays special attention to remote areas, border regions, islands, ethnic minority communities, and vulnerable groups. It also encourages the replication of successful models in residential areas, schools, businesses, and key locations. If a particular approach works in one province, it can be studied, adapted, and applied elsewhere—but always with local adjustments. The goal is to make prevention a habit, not a slogan. The project also recognizes that awareness must be continuous. A single training session or a one-time information drive is not enough. Communication needs to be repeated, refreshed, and updated as threats evolve, which is why it is embedded into the regular work plans of government bodies and armed forces units. In this way, safety becomes part of institutional routine, not an afterthought during a crisis.
Digital transformation is the breakthrough direction of the project. Traditional press and grassroots information systems still play a vital role, but digital platforms, social networks, and modern media products now offer the possibility of reaching far more people, much faster, and with greater interaction. The project wants to make full use of these tools to expand the reach of official messages and to make information more accessible and engaging. Yet speed without trust is dangerous. If false information spreads just as quickly as true information, the result is confusion, fear, and poor decisions. That is why the plan demands standardized content and the creation of a national messaging system on preventing and responding to non-traditional security threats. Messages must be easy to understand, easy to remember, and appropriate for each target group. They should not be filled with legal jargon or bureaucratic language. Instead, they should answer practical questions: What is the risk? What should I do? Where can I get help? Public campaigns will focus on climate change, epidemics, cybersecurity, energy and water security, high-tech crime, misinformation, and emerging new challenges. The aim is to give people a better understanding of risks, help them choose protective measures, and allow them to find official guidance when they need it. At the same time, the project seeks to expand early warning systems for non-traditional security threats. By 2030, all ministries, sectors, and localities are expected to establish focal points and coordination mechanisms for communication on these threats. Annual communication campaigns will be organized and linked to emerging risks. In emergencies, accurate and timely information becomes even more critical. It helps bridge information gaps, prevents fake news from taking over, and reduces the risk of panic. Communication efforts must therefore include proactive explanation of events, correction of inaccurate content, and training that improves people’s ability to verify information sources.
To carry out this vision, the project identifies eight key tasks and solutions. First, strengthen the Party’s leadership and make state management more effective. Second, standardize content and build a national messaging system. Third, innovate communication methods based on digital transformation. Fourth, enhance strategic communication capacity, risk communication, and crisis response. Fifth, link communication with ideological security and information security. Sixth, build a proactive society that can prevent, adapt to, and strengthen resilience. Seventh, strengthen human resource training, inter-sectoral and inter-regional coordination, and international cooperation. Eighth, ensure resources and improve the effectiveness of implementation. These tasks are not separate boxes; they work together. Good communication requires clear policies, well-trained people, reliable information, modern tools, and cooperation beyond the borders of a single ministry or province. The roadmap is also clear. During the 2026-2028 period, the focus will be on completing plans, documents, communication messages, coordination mechanisms, databases, and core personnel. This is the foundation-building stage. Training will be carried out, pilot models will be built, inspections and evaluations will be conducted, and results will be summarized. During the 2029-2030 period, the focus shifts to replicating effective models, enhancing rapid-response communication capabilities, strengthening crisis management, and summarizing implementation. The vision for 2045 is even broader: a modern, integrated, multi-platform media ecosystem that contributes to improving the capacity for forecasting, early warning, and responding to non-traditional security threats. This long-term perspective matters because threats will continue to evolve. A system built only for today’s risks will be obsolete tomorrow. The goal is to create a learning system: one that can absorb new information, adapt messages, and remain trustworthy over time.
The Ministry of Science and Technology has turned this broad framework into a practical plan through Decision No. 3914/QD-BKHCN, issued on September 26, 2026. The plan places people and businesses at the center, linking awareness-raising with guidance on skills and concrete actions. Its main focus is digital safety. People need to learn how to use technology safely and responsibly, especially in a time when artificial intelligence can create fake images and voices that are nearly impossible to distinguish from reality. They must verify information before sharing it, protect their personal data, and conduct electronic transactions securely. The plan highlights a growing and painful scam: criminals use AI to impersonate relatives, agencies, organizations, or authorities in order to steal assets or spread misinformation. The advice is simple but essential. Develop the habit of checking information through independent channels. Do not rush to transfer money, provide verification codes, or reveal sensitive data before confirming the identity of the person asking for it. A minute spent double-checking can save a life’s savings. The plan also addresses communication disruptions and radiation and nuclear safety hazards. It promotes the dissemination of research results and technological solutions that support forecasting, early warning, and response to natural disasters, epidemics, and environmental incidents. Expert information needs to be carefully verified and then conveyed in clear, plain language. People should not need a technical degree to understand what to do in an emergency. When health experts explain a disease, for example, they must also tell people how to prevent it and where to find reliable guidance. This is practical science communication, not abstract messages.
Finally, communication must be as diverse as the people it serves. The project calls for news articles, videos, infographics, podcasts, handbooks, and digital learning materials, combined with training sessions, seminars, and communication campaigns. Different people learn in different ways. Some prefer reading a short article; others respond better to a video or an interactive app. The plan recognizes this and deliberately diversifies its methods. By 2030, all units under the Ministry of Science and Technology will integrate appropriate communication content into their annual work programs and plans. But the real measure of success is not the number of documents produced or events organized. It is whether information reaches the right target audience, whether skills are actually applied in daily life, and whether people become more proactive when facing risks. Are families more careful before clicking a link? Do communities know how to respond when flood warnings arrive? Do citizens report suspicious AI-generated messages instead of forwarding them? These are the signs of genuine resilience. In an age of non-traditional security threats that are increasingly diverse, complex, and interconnected, the goal is to build a society that can prevent, adapt, and recover together. The project, with its long-term vision and practical steps, is a serious attempt to make that goal real. It treats ordinary people as partners, not subjects. It gives them knowledge, skills, and confidence. And in doing so, it strengthens the entire community against the quiet, shifting, and sometimes invisible dangers of the modern world.