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January - March 2014
PROJECT TO BUILD DISASTER AND CLIMATE CHANGE RESILIENCE IN
PACIFIC ISLAND COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES
The project entitled ‘ACP-EU Building Safety & Resilience in the
Pacific’ is the Pacific component of the 10th EDF Intra-ACP envelope
for Disaster Risk Reduction. It corresponds directly to priorities
identified under the 2009 EU Strategy for Supporting Disaster Risk
Reduction in developing countries and its implementation plan. The
project’s purpose is to strengthen the capacity of PICs to address
existing and emerging challenges with regards to the risks posed by
natural hazards and related disasters, while maximising synergies
between Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) strategies and Climate
Change Adaptation (CCA). The overall objective of the project
is to reduce the vulnerability as well as the social, economic and
environmental costs of disasters caused by natural hazards, thereby
achieving regional and national sustainable development and
poverty reduction goals in the Pacific Island countries and territories.
Recent appointments were being made to the Project’s Team and
they are as follows:
Project Manager − Mr Taito Nakalevu
Mr Nakalevu holds a Masters in Geography
and has extensive experience in project
management at the national and regional
level, has worked in all the countries in
the Pacific and is very familiar with the
inter-relationship between Climate Change
Adaptation (CCA) and DRM. Prior to joining
SOPAC, Mr Nakalevu served as Manager of
the Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change
project based in SPREP.
Mr Nakalevu will be responsible for all project planning; developing
project documentation; implementing the DRM and CCA project
initiatives at the regional, national and sub national levels in the 15
Pacific ACP States; as well as monitoring, evaluating and reporting
on project deliverables.
He commenced service at SOPAC, SPC the beginning of March
2014 and is based at the SOPAC Division of SPC in Suva, Fiji.
Officer, North Pacific − Mr Noa Tokavou (returning staff
member, ex EDF9 NDF project)
Holds a BA in Management/Public
Administration & Land Management/
Development. He also holds a graduate
Diploma in Development Studies and
other tertiary qualifications. He is currently
pursuing an MA. He has extensive
experience in DRM having recently been a
part of the EU EDF 9 NDF project supporting
DRM capacity building in Pacific Island
countries. He has worked extensively with
Governments in the Pacific in mainstreaming of DRM into planning
and resource allocation processes and also at the community level
where he has significant knowledge and experience. In this regard,
he has worked in Kiribati, Tuvalu and Tonga on JNAP and related
initiatives.
He is also a trained DRM instructor in the TAF/OFDA suite of courses
and has assisted a few countries in the reviews of their national
DRM governance arrangements.
Mr Tokavou will be responsible for project oversight of the DRM and
CCA priorities in the target countries in the North Pacific of Federated
States of Micronesia (FSM), Marshall Islands and Palau, including
developing and implementing DRM capacity building strategies and
the provision of high-level technical advice and support.
Mr Tokavou commenced service in the project in the month of
January 2014 and is based at the SPC regional office in Pohnpei,
FSM.
Officer, DRM Regional – Mr Waisale Naqiolevu
(returning staff member, ex EDF9 NDF project)
Holds a Bachelors degree in Environmental
Science and a Post Graduate Diploma in
Development Studies. Over the past 4 years
he has built up a significant knowledge and
experience base working with Pacific Island
countries and has been the focal point for
DRM mainstreaming work for SPC/SOPAC
in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and
Nauru. In addition, he has provided project
coordination support for the EDF9 NDF and
AusAID National Action Plan Facility projects.
Mr Naqiolevu will provide high-quality technical advice and support
to the Project Manager in addressing the requirements of the
regional component of the BSRP project. These include supporting:
the strengthening of partnerships and collaboration between those
involved in DRM and CCA; the mainstreaming of disaster risk
within the policies and plans of agency members of the Council
of Regional Organisations in the Pacific (CROP); coordination of
activities to enhance DRM capacity at the regional level and; the
‘Roadmap’ process for the development of a regional strategy on
Disaster and Climate Resilient Development by 2015. In addition
to supporting the implementation of the regional component of the
project, Waisale will also carry responsibility for supporting a group
of countries in implementing their EDF10 priorities.
Mr Naqiolevu commenced work in the project in the month of
January 2014 and is based at the SOPAC Division of SPC, in Suva,
Fiji.
Officer, Pacific Islands Emergency Management
Alliance – Mr Anthony Blake
Is currently pursuing a Post Graduate
Certificate in Disaster Risk Management
with the Fiji National University and
has very extensive experience in DRM
capacity building in the Pacific having
recently managed an AusAID-funded
multi country project covering 4 countries
addressing issues of vulnerability and
risk at a community level. He also has
significant experience in disaster response
coordination and preparedness capacity building during his tenure
with the Fiji National Fire Authority and as a member of the UN
Disaster Assessment & Coordination Team. He is a trained DRM
instructor in the TAF/OFDA suite of courses and has conducted
training in almost all Pacific Island countries.
Mr Blake will be responsible for providing technical advice and
secretariat support to enable the development of the Pacific Island