A delegation from the Caribbean that represented four Disaster Risk Management organizations recently visited SOPAC for a briefing to better understand the range of services and products that it provides the 19 countries and territories in the Pacific region through applied geoscience and technology.

The delegation was in Fiji to share their experiences with their Pacific counterparts as part of a South-South cooperation project between Pacific and Small Island Developing States on Climate Change Adaption and Disaster Risk Management funded  through and in collaboration with the UNDP Pacific Centre.

At a luncheon hosted by SOPAC they were briefed by its Director, Dr. Russell Howorth, and representatives from the organization’s three programmes, Ocean and Islands, Water and Sanitation and Disaster Reduction as well as Natural Resources Economics.

The visit to SOPAC was part of the arrangements made for the Caribbean delegation to participate in the Pacific Platform for Disaster Risk Management 2010 that was held recently in Suva, Fiji.

Shown here (left to right) are: Dr. Thomas Guitierez, Director General Institute of Meteorology Cuba; Ms. Jacinda Fairholm of the UNDPs Caribbean Risk Management Initiative; Ms. Nicole Williams of the IFRC Caribbean office; Dr. Asha Kambon of ECLAC, and Dr. Carlos Fuller of the CARCOM Climate Change Centre.