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Pacific Disaster Net provides daily updates in wake of cyclone Pam

Thursday, 19 March 2015 15:00 administrator
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18 March 2015, Suva - The Pacific’s largest and most comprehensive information management resource on disaster risk management and national sustainable development has commenced daily email updates in the wake of cyclone Pam.

Anyone wanting to subscribe to the Pacific Disaster Net service can do so online at http://lists.spc.int/mailman/listinfo/pdn. The portal is updated daily by a dedicated team at the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) in Suva, Fiji, on behalf of an international partnership initiative.

“The main target audiences for Pacific Disaster Net are National Disaster Management Officers, government officials, emergency responders and communities to help them prepare for, and manage, natural disasters in the Pacific Islands region,” the Director of SPC's Geoscience Division, Professor Michael Petterson, said in Suva today.

“With more than 15,000 documents and materials, the portal facilitates informed decision-making and really comes into its own in the wake of significant disaster events,” Prof Petterson said.

According to Prof Petterson, the portal contains extensive information on cyclone Pam and other disasters, such as situation reports, response updates from international partners, various agencies on the ground and media coverage that has been compiled by the team in Suva.

The Pacific Disaster Net portal is developed with support from partners, such as the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the UN Development Programme Pacific Centre (UNDP PC), the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) and the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR).

The information usually comes in the form of weekly updates and a monthly disaster risk management calendar for the Pacific region, but for now a temporary daily update is also available.

It is part of a comprehensive response by SPC and its partners designed to support Pacific Community members impacted by cyclone Pam. Anyone who wishes to view information in the portal can do so online at www.pacificdisaster.net.

 

Media contact: Sereima Kalouniviti, Researcher – Pacific Disaster Net, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or +679 3381 377

Last Updated on Thursday, 19 March 2015 15:04  

Newsflash

Honiara, Solomon Islands – In Honiara last week, the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) led training to develop 21 new Emergency Response Team trainers for the Solomon Islands.

The participants engaged in eight days of training on the various activities Emergency Response Teams are expected to perform and also learnt how to provide this training to other personnel in their respective Provinces or organisations.

The training reflects collaboration at the local, regional and national levels with SPC and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), working together to prepare the training materials, which were reviewed by the Solomon Islands Red Cross Society (SIRCS) and National Disaster Management Office (NDMO)  before being delivered to participants representing Red Cross and Solomon Islands Government at the provincial level, as well as NGOs such as Oxfam, Save the Children and World Vision.

Following the training, participants will receive support from Red Cross and the NDMO to provide multi-agency Emergency Response Team training in their home provinces.

In opening the training, the Secretary-General of Solomon Islands Red Cross, Joanne Zoleveke, and the Director of the NDMO, Loti Yates, challenged participants to take the opportunity afforded by this training to strengthen relationships between partners and to prepare to co-deliver Emergency Response Team (ERT) training at a provincial level.