Priorities for Capacity Building in Disaster Risk Finance Identified

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A regional approach is helping Pacific countries to strengthen their financial protection against disasters. This co-ordination, along with knowledge brokering, private sector engagement and enabling disaster risk financing at the national level are priorities recently identified for disaster risk finance capacity building in the Pacific.

The Pacific Resilience Partnership (PRP) Disaster Risk Financing Working Group convened a two-day virtual workshop from 16-17 November. Participants included officials from Ministries of Finance, National Disaster Management Offices, and representatives of development partners and donors.

Speaking at the opening of the workshop, Dr. Habiba Gitay, Senior Climate Resilience Development Specialist from World Bank mentioned that “having the Disaster Risk Finance Working Group endorsed by Forum Economic Ministers Meeting in July 2021 has been extremely important as it not only garners support from development partners but provides a platform for just-in-time learning amongst varied stakeholders.”

Mr Garth Henderson, Secretary of the Ministry of Finance in Cook Islands commented that we do need to maintain a focus on disaster risk financing, despite our attention being consumed with our efforts to recover from the economic impacts of COVID-19.

“Not only do we need to recover our economies, but we also need to sustain our economies from the continuing onslaught of climate change, and we need to plan for and respond to disasters of all nature. Disaster Risk Financing has an important role to play,” He said.

Mr. Henderson commented that “at the forefront of national efforts will be the Ministries of Finance. At times like this when national resources are stretched the support by the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS), other regional organisations and development partners and the opportunity to work together in regional arrangements such as the PRP Disaster Risk Financing Working Group is a welcome boost to national efforts.”

Participants shared what their respective countries are doing in addressing financial protection against disasters. They also highlighted the importance of having the Working Group to effectively coordinate disaster risk financing activities in the region and support country ownership as key to driving implementation of activities.

Director of the Department of Disaster Management in Tuvalu, Mr Luka Selu said that promoting private sector engagement is an area that is still evolving in Tuvalu and the government is working to ensure that the private sector is fully engaged in resilience building.

Mr. Selu also stressed the importance of ensuring that monitoring and evaluation is included in the working group’s priorities so that progress can be monitored.

The workshop was jointly organised by PIFS, Pacific Catastrophe Risk Insurance Company (PCRIC) and UN Capital Development Fund.


Media Contacts:

Sharon Tohaimae

PRP communications focal point

Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat

+ 679 331 2600

Sharon_tohaimae@forumsec.org

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Framework for Resilient Development in the Pacific

The Pacific Islands Forum Leaders in 2016 endorsed the Framework for Resilient Development in the Pacific: An integrated approach to address climate and disaster risk management for more resilient development in the Pacific (FRDP).

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Humanitarian Action in the Pacific Report

One of the key activity of the TWG Human Mobility was to conduct a ‘Mapping and tracking of all the localisation activities conducted by partners in-country.’ Given the recent impacts of COVID 19, The objective of the mapping survey was two-fold which was tracking of localisation activities and the impact of COVID 19 on humanitarian activities at national level.

 

 

 

The mapping activity which was conducted through an online survey from the 17th till the 31st of July 2020 focused on;

– Providing an overview on the strength of localisation actors in the region,

– Identify areas to strengthen or to advance the implementation of the FRDP from all actors.

– Identify the impacts of COVID 19 on organisations and how they have localised their responses.

– Promote south-south collaboration amongst actors in sharing of good practices and local know how to reduce disaster risks and guaranteeing an inclusive and accessible humanitarian actions for all Pacific people.

The results of the mapping activity has been compiled into a report and was endorsed by the TWG members in February 2021. Click below to retrieve a copy.

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PRP Charter

The development of a PRP Charter is a key part of the 9-point strategy and provides clarity on what the PRP is and the roles and obligations of its members.

A copy of the PRP Charter is available on the link below.

PRP Charter - English

PRP Charter - French