Apec forum told of PNG’s policy on disaster planning

National

PAPUA New Guinea has taken the opportunity to present its priority areas on disaster reduction policy at the 11th Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation senior disaster management officials forum (Apec  SDMOF) in Vietnam last week.
Managing director for Climate Change Development Authority (CCDA) Ruel Yamuna, who attended the forum with Andrew Emilio Oaego, a senior official from the National Disaster Centre (NDC), presented a policy that was designed to promote local level action and advance multi-hazard early warning systems to address natural disasters in the Apec region.
Yamuna said PNG, through the NDC and CCDA, were the lead coordinating agencies for the PNG emergency preparedness working group and during the forum presented two main priority areas for PNG in 2018.
“The priority areas are on effective policy design and plans for disaster risk reduction (DRR) to promote local level action and address some aspects of effective management system that includes risk identification, emergency preparedness, institutional capacity building, risk mitigation and catastrophic risk financing,” he said.
“Important as well in this policy is the role of information, science and technology in strengthening the country’s current early warning systems to monitor multi hazards.
“This will help the country to be resilient to the impacts of natural disasters as a result of climate change.”
Yamuna said a joint recommendation was finalised on science and technology for DRR and would be discussed in the Apec leaders’ meeting later in November.