Thursday 26 September 2013, Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), Nadi, Fiji - Eighteen disaster risk management trainers from Cook Islands, Fiji, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu are in Nadi, Fiji this week (23–27 September) attending a Training for Instructors course. The aim is to develop a stronger network of trainers to support, organise and conduct disaster risk management courses in their home countries.

The Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), in collaboration with The Asia Foundation (TAF), is facilitating the training, with support from the regional Pacific Disaster Risk Management Training Programme funded by USAID and the European Union.

The course is targeted at individuals who have played an active role in disaster risk management training activities and programmes in their countries and who will be available after the course to assist with and contribute to national disaster risk management capacity development.

The participants have a range of training experience, with new trainers attending the course for the first time through to experienced trainers attending the course as a final refresher before delivering training for trainers in their home countries.

After the course, the new trainers will be provided opportunities to further build their experience and training skills through participation and co-facilitation of disaster risk management courses which include: introduction to disaster management, initial damage assessment, disaster risk reduction, evacuation centre management, emergency operations centre and exercise management.

Experienced trainers will receive support to deliver courses in their home countries to further expand the Pacific network of DRM trainers.

Building the skills of disaster risk management trainers is a key element in SPC’s approach to capacity building in the region.  Such support enables national disaster management offices to deliver training with limited demand for regional support, and greatly increases their ability to manage their own capacity-building requirements. The success of this approach can be seen in Fiji and Solomon Islands, where introductory courses are successfully offered without support from regional trainers.

The training is facilitated by a team of trainers from SPC, TAF, the Government of Fiji (Public Service Commission), the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the Fiji private sector.

For more information contact:
Kirstie Méheux, Senior Advisor Disaster Risk Management Training and Capacity Building, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , +679 338 1377 (ext 36310)