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Strengthening Disaster Information Management Systems

Sunday, 27 June 2010 14:39 administrator
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On Friday 18th June the SOPAC Director Dr Russell Howorth handed over 8 desktops, 8 laptops, a photocopy machine, Printer and Server to the Permanent Secretary for Provincial Development, Multi Ethnic Affairs, National Disaster Management and Sugar Mr Manasa Vaniqi in support of disaster information management in Fiji.

Present at the handover were the Commissioners for the four divisions: Central, Eastern, Northern and Western. Each division will be allocated a desktop and a laptop for use in their respective Divisional Emergency Operation Centres. A Memorandum of Agreement was also signed at the handover outlining the roles and responsibilities of SOPAC and the Ministry in support of the initiative "Strengthening Disaster Information Management Systems".

The initiative is an opportunity for the National Disaster Management Office and Commissioners’ offices to better collaborate with other Government Departments, such as ITC Services, the Bureau of Statistics, and the Fiji Lands Information System (FLIS), to help establish and maintain disaster information management systems with added features such as Geographical Information Systems (GIS). Once in operation the system will support the provision of accurate spatial information in disaster affected areas and enhance response planning and other critical activities during disasters.

 

Dr Russell Howorth and Mr Manasa Vaniqi sign the Memorandum of Agreement between SOPAC and the Ministry of Provincial Development, Multi Ethnic Affairs, National Disaster Management and Sugar Mr Manasa Vaniqi on behalf of the Fiji Government receives the equipment from Russell Howorth, Director, SOPAC.

The Strengthening Disaster Information Management Systems initiative for the Fiji National Disaster Management Office is supported by members of the Pacific Disaster Risk Management Partnership Networkexternal link.

Last Updated on Sunday, 27 June 2010 14:46  

Newsflash

4 September 2014, Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), Apia, Samoa - Small island developing states of the Pacific face a set of difficult and complex challenges in securing safe drinking water and sanitation facilities for their citizens – challenges not easily addressed by single communities, organisations or sectors working in isolation. To make progress in the area of safe water and sanitation, the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) is convinced that a multi-sector, partnership approach is the key, and SPC is promoting the use of partnerships to tackle the region’s most difficult water and sanitation challenges head on.

Dr Colin Tukuitonga, SPC’s Director-General, feels that effective partnerships are the way forward in harnessing the energy and expertise needed to overcome the challenges of securing safe and sustainable drinking water and sanitation facilities. ‘At SPC we already work closely with our member countries and territories to help bring the various sectors together and demonstrate the benefits of sustainable water and sanitation solutions,’ Dr Tukuitonga said. ‘What we’re now seeing in the region is increasing collaboration between sectors, stakeholder groups, and also between Pacific Island countries and territories.’

Dr Tukuitonga was speaking in Apia at the United Nations Conference on Small Island Developing States, or SIDS, which is bringing together partners from across the globe to focus the world’s attention on a group of countries that remain a special case for sustainable development in view of their unique and particular vulnerabilities.