Suva, Fiji – A major new report, Reviving Melanesia’s Ocean Economy: The Case for Action, launched today, has revealed that the ocean is a much larger part of Melanesia’s economy and future prosperity than previously understood.
Melanesia is a large sub-region in the Pacific that extends from the western end of the Pacific Ocean to the Arafura Sea, and eastward to Fiji. The region includes Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu.
The Government of Vanuatu has decided to develop an oceans policy, which aligns with recommendations from the
Commonwealth Secretariat.
This report summarises the main findings1 of an analysis and assessment of 69 instruments of legislation and
subordinate policies and plans that are relevant to management and use of Vanuatu’s territorial waters and therefore
relevant to the development of the national oceans policy. The review of Vanuatu’s legislation, policies, strategies and
Van-KIRAP Traditional Knowledge Calendars for the Province of Malampa,
Van-KIRAP Traditional Knowledge Seasonal Calendar for Penama Province
Van - KIRAP Traditional Knowledge Calendars for Shefa Province
Van-KIRAP Traditional Knowledge Calendars - Tafea Province
The Van- KIRAP Traditional Knowledge Calendars for Torba Province
The Van- KIRAP Traditional Knowledge Calendars for Sanma Province
First state-of-the-art quantitative and probabilistic assessment of major perils in the Pacific
• Covering entire landmass of 15 island countries
• Regional exposure database; – one of the largest and most comprehensive globally
• Analysis of fiscal risk exposure based on country risk profiles
• Disaster risk financing solutions
• Open access to risk information
This paper sets out a framework for ‘Risk Governance’ to help practitioners mainstream climate and disaster risk1 into development decision making in the Pacific. It is based largely on the experiences of testing this framework in the Pacific via the Pacific Risk Resilience Programme (PRRP). It aims to:
i) articulate the rationale for strengthening risk governance as the foundation for transformational and therefore more sustained risk mainstreaming;
ii) draw upon lessons and challenges from mainstreaming other cross-cutting issues;
As part of the preparedness towards any forthcoming disasters and continuous monitoring of the agricultural sector, the RRU in collaboration with FAO and DARD have established an early warning early action system that is run by the Risk and Resilience Unit (RRU) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Forestry, Fisheries and Biosecurity (MALFFB) to the agricultural extension officers. The department of agriculture has a total of 45 extension officers that are based on all of the 6 provinces covering almost all the area councils of every island.
A national debriefing workshop to identify lessons learned following Tropical Cyclone Pam (TC Pam) was facilitatedby the Vanuatu National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) with support from the Pacific Community (SPC) and
The FRDP identifies three inter-related goals that need to be actively pursued by all stakeholders, working in partnership, in order to enhance resilience to disasters and climate change in the context of sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty.
The Forty-Seventh Pacific Islands Forum was held in Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia from 8 – 10 September 2016 and was attended by Heads of State and Government of Australia, the Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of Nauru, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. The Solomon Islands was represented by their Deputy Prime Minister, the Republic of Fiji, Niue and the Republic of Palau by their Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Kiribati by a Special Envoy.
The annual cyclone season for the Republic of Vanuatu commences in November and extends to the end of April the following year. While cyclones can develop outside of this period, their cyclical nature increases the predictability of such occurrences and thus enables pre-planned measures to be formulated beforehand and community preparedness programmes to be put in place and promulgated.
This Urban Risk Management Strategy (the URMS or the Strategy) provides a response to the hazards, risks and urban growth trends identified for Vanuatu’s two urban areas, the greater Port Vila Urban Area and Luganville. It is Stage 3 of the Risk Mapping and Planning for Urban Preparedness Project (the Project) being undertaken by the Vanuatu Meteorology and Geo-Hazards Department (VMGD) as part of the broader Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction Project.
Following TC Pam NDMO recognised the need for enhanced community based disaster risk management responses. As such over the last year NDMO has been working with its key in country partners to review, revise and update certain processes and tools. One of those DRM processes and tools is the community based disaster assessment process.
As of the 2009 Census, the total population on the island of Santo was 39,606 people. Santo is the second highest populated island in Vanuatu, second only to Efate. Luganville, with a population of 13,167 is the second largest town in Vanuatu and is located on the southern coast of the island, approximately a 1.5 hour drive from the project site. According to the 2009 Census, the annual population growth rate for Santo is 2.4%.