BUILDING SAFETY AND RESILIENCE IN THE PACIFIC PROJECT ACP-EU Building Safety and Resilience in the Pacific Project Activity Report 2015 Activity Report 2015 1 ACP-EU Building Safety and Resilience in the Pacific Project Activity Report 2015 Prepared by the Geoscience Division of the Pacific Community © Pacific Community (SPC) 2016 All rights for commercial/for profit reproduction or translation, in any form, reserved. SPC authorises the partial reproduction or translation of this material for scientific, educational or research purposes, provided that SPC and the source document are properly acknowledged. Permission to reproduce the document and/or translate in whole, in any form, whether for commercial/for profit or non-profit purposes, must be requested in writing. Original SPC artwork may not be altered or separately published without permission. Original text: English Pacific Community Cataloguing-in-publication data Building Safety and Resilience in the Pacific Project: activity Report 2015 / prepared by SPC 1. Building — Oceania. 2. Building — Safety measures — Oceania. 3. Climatic changes — Oceania. 4. Climatic changes — Management — Oceania. 5. Climatic changes — Risk management — Oceania. 6. Disasters — Oceania. 7. Climatic changes — Management — Oceania. I. Title. II. Pacific Community. 658.20995 AACR2 ISBN: 978-982-00-0999-8 Disclaimer This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of the publication are the sole responsibility of the Pacific Community and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union. Acknowledgements Funded by the European Union. Implemented by the Pacific Community. CONTENTS FOREWORD.......................................................................................................................................................... iv INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................................... 1 BSRP Project at a glance.................................................................................................................................. 2 Expected Outcomes for Building Safety and Resilience in the Pacific................................................................ 3 Key stakeholders.............................................................................................................................................. 3 REGIONAL WORK................................................................................................................................................ 4 Strategy for Climate and Disaster Resilient Development in the Pacific (SRDP).................................................. 4 Pacific cooperation leads to world first strategy................................................................................................. 5 Pacific Islands Emergency Management Alliance (PIEMA)................................................................................. 6 Communications............................................................................................................................................... 8 COUNTRY Updates........................................................................................................................................... 11 1. Cook Islands.............................................................................................................................................. 12 2. Federated States of Micronesia.................................................................................................................. 15 3. Fiji.............................................................................................................................................................. 18 4. Kiribati........................................................................................................................................................ 21 5. Republic of the Marshall Islands................................................................................................................. 24 6. Nauru......................................................................................................................................................... 26 7. Niue........................................................................................................................................................... 28 8. Palau.......................................................................................................................................................... 32 9. Papua New Guinea.................................................................................................................................... 35 10. Timor Leste................................................................................................................................................ 38 11. Samoa....................................................................................................................................................... 41 12. Solomon Islands........................................................................................................................................ 44 13. Tonga......................................................................................................................................................... 48 14. Tuvalu........................................................................................................................................................ 51 15. Vanuatu...................................................................................................................................................... 54 REGIONAL STEERING COMMITTEE – OUTCOME STATEMENT....................................................................... 59 ANNEX 1 – Regional Steering Committee Notes................................................................................................ 63 ANNEX 2 – Financials (July – June 2015)............................................................................................................ 72 iii BUILDING SAFETY AND RESILIENCE IN THE PACIFIC PROJECT Taito Nakalevu FOREWORD It is with great pleasure that I present to you the second annual report for the Building Safety and Resilience in the Pacific (BSRP) project, which is dedicated to effective disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA) at regional, national and community levels across 15 countries in the Pacific region. The year 2015 has been a fruitful one for the project, with clarity and direction being achieved for many of the 15 countries that are included in the overall scope of this work. It has also been a challenging year, with disasters becoming a reality for many of the countries within the project, along with the tragic loss of one of our team, Losana McGowan. Tropical Cyclone Pam struck Vanuatu in early March, and also caused damage and widespread flooding in Kiribati, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu. The cyclone was the most intense in the southern hemisphere for 2015, and the worst disaster recorded in Vanuatu’s history. This extreme event highlights the importance and need to build the resilience of Pacific Island countries and strengthen our response to these increasing disasters. Less than three weeks later another disaster developed with Super Typhoon Maysak, which was the most powerful pre-April tropical cyclone on record in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. Maysak slammed into the Federated States of Micronesia on 31 March as it passed near Chuuk and Yap, resulting in 4 deaths and 10 injuries, with damage estimated at USD8.5 million. These disasters, along with a myriad of other localised cases of flooding, as well as the onset of the region’s worst drought in almost a decade due to the prevailing El Niño, emphasise the critical importance of our work in helping communities and countries become more resilient to disaster. Furthermore, the project has learnt from the experiences of these disasters, and been able to achieve great commitment and partnerships throughout the year, which will contribute to the long-term resilience of these countries. Joint national action plans on how best to coordinate disaster risk management and adaption to climate change, and new state-of-the-art emergency operations centres, are key priorities for 2016, along with a renewed focus on understanding traditional knowledge in disaster preparation and learning from our experiences of disaster in recent years. The strengthening of the Pacific Islands Emergency Management Alliance (PIEMA), along with the launch of the strategic roadmap for emergency management in Niue, have created an innovative platform for emergency management and coordination that will facilitate our work. I am proud to work with the countries in the project and the teams that are dedicated to helping reduce the real impact of disaster on the lives and livelihoods of our Pacific community. Taito Nakalevu Programme Manager Building Safety and Resilience in the Pacific iv Activity Report 2015 BUILDING SAFETY AND RESILIENCE IN THE PACIFIC PROJECT INTRODUCTION The Building Safety and Resilience in the Pacific (BSRP) project is a€ 19.36 million project supported by the European Union (EU) and implemented by the Pacific Community (SPC). This project directly responds to the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of states’ and the EU’s priorities identified under the 2009 European