Over 9 million people in the Pacific affected due to natural disasters in the past 60 years

In the past 60 years, Pacific Island countries have experienced losses averaging US$284 million a year due to natural disasters and climate shocks.

These have affected over 9 million people and caused somewhere around 9,811 reported deaths.

This was highlighted by Minister for Agriculture Dr Mahendra Reddy while receiving the first Interim Multi Country Strategy for the Pacific report on behalf of the Pacific Islands.

Reddy says this is an important step on the road to strengthening and fortifying national systems to reduce the risk of, prepare for and respond to disasters, with the shared vision of building a more resilient Pacific Community.

The Minister says the important goals set forth in the strategy will help Pacific Island nations to identify gaps and needs for support to advance their emergency preparedness planning and mechanisms ‑ something World Food Programme has already been working on for the past three years in the region.

The first Interim Multi Country Strategy for the Pacific was presented to the Executive Board last week by the Pacific World Food Programme Head Peter French and was supported by Samoa, Marshals, PNG and Fiji.

A USD12.93 million agreement for the funding of future of World Food Program in the Pacific was also approved by the World Food Programme Executive Board.

The Board noted that the plan will see the World Food Programme  implement a series of food security projects in the region that are designed to build resilience and mitigate against the impacts of natural disasters.

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