IFRC and SPREP Press Release
3 September, 2014 Apia, Samoa - Today the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and the Secretariat for the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) signed a historic partnership agreement that aims to improve the way in which weather and climate information is delivered, understood and acted on, by communities living with the everyday impacts of climate change.
The three-year Letter of Agreement was signed at the SPREP headquarters in Apia by Jagan Chapagain, Director of the IFRC's regional office for Asia Pacific and David Sheppard, Director of SPREP.
The signing took place during the Third UN International Conference on Small Islands Developing States (SIDS) currently taking place in the Samoan capital.
"This agreement embodies the goal of this year's SIDS conference which is about the need to form genuine and durable partnerships for the sustainable development of SIDS", said Mr. David Sheppard.
"It is about strengthening community resilience by making climate and weather information relevant to the needs of communities living on the frontline of climate change. The Red Cross network allows us to engage with fishers, farmers and villagers on main and outer islands, who depend on weather and climate information for their livelihoods".
The Finnish-Pacific 'FINPAC' project is funded by the Finnish Government and administered by SPREP. IFRC and SPREP are collaborating to implement the community based component of the project which involves the creation of partnerships between National Meteorological Services (NMS) and Red Cross National Societies in 10 Pacific Nations. They will work with local communities and villages to develop early warning systems and improve dialogue between disaster managers, NMSs and end users of weather and climate information.
"Communities can dramatically reduce the risks they are exposed to by having a better understanding of climate change and climate variability including El Nino and La Nina and extreme weather events such as cyclones and tides. This is vital if we are to strengthen disaster preparedness and response at the local level", says the IFRC's Jagan Chapagain.
The project has already been initiated in Tuvalu and the Cook Islands. In both locations, consultations have taken place in partner communities as well as training in understanding weather and climate. The communities have identified their priority early warning needs and created their own action plans to reduce the risks they face.
On the island of Aitutaki in the Cook Islands for example, the Tautu Village Disaster Committee that has been formed will help their community monitor, prepare, respond and recover from disasters. The area is regularly hit by cyclones, and the Committee will motivate the community to take action and take measures to ensure their health and safety such as alert neighbours, evacuate schools and prepare their houses for extreme winds.