Private sector targeted in disaster resilience project in the Pacific

The private sector is the focus of a new natural disaster resilience project in Pacific island countries.

This was highlighted at the launch of the Private Sector Toolkits for six Pacific countries namely Fiji, Samoa, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, PNG and Marshall Islands in Suva on Tuesday.

Pacific Community (SPC) Communications and Knowledge Management Team Leader, Lisa Kingsberry says they have designed the kit to be user friendly for the public.

“The tool kit itself is a private sector tool kit and is design to help private sectors understand and what it is they need to do to better prepare for disasters like cyclones or droughts or Tsunamis. And so it was design, really as a result from cyclone Winston and the devastation caused by it.”

Kingsberry adds they have found out that micro and small businesses are the ones that suffer the most during natural disasters in the Pacific.

“It made us realize that eighty percent of the private sector in the pacific is micro small or medium enterprises. So we are talking, the market vendors at the Suva Municipal markets or we are talking mums and dads businesses and we are talking to 20 to 30 staffs in total. They are part the community.”

The private sector was also a bigger part of the resilience drive after the devastation in Fiji of Tropical Cyclone Winston in 2016.

“They helped build back when Winston happened and so helping support them to be better prepared for disaster is critical to supporting an overall community resilience and building resilience in all communities to get back on their feet so that really how the tool kit came about,” Kingsberry said

The toolkit is an initiative of SPC and in partnership with PIPSO, UNDRR, BSRP, the Greenhouse Studio and the Fiji Business Disaster Resilience Council.

“We wanted something simple and easy to understand and genuinely supported the private sector with them involved. So we developed a partnership with Pacific Islands Private Sector organisations, PIPSO and the Fiji Businesses Disaster Resilience Team Council and we worked alongside them and created these 6 videos to talk about the importance of working private sectors but also if you are private sector, why you should prepare?and how you could do that and also business continuity plan so you can keep it on that wall.”

 

 

 

     

Author: 
Josephine Navula