FINPAC Project supports the Community Disaster and Climate Risk Management (CDCRM) Program

The Government of Samoa through the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) through the Meteorology Division and the Disaster Management Office in partnership with the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and the International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC) and Samoa Red Cross Society are supporting Lefagaoalii community to better understand how to respond to weather, climate and geo-hazard information during extreme events and disasters within the context of the CDCRM Program. The official handover of this pilot project will be conducted at Lefagaoalii on Thursday 26 November 2015.


Lefagaoalii village after their first disaster drill on 26 March 2015

The FINPAC Project is a four-year, regional multilateral project, that is funded by the Government of Finland and the World Meteorlogical Organisation (WMO) for fourteen countries in the Pacific (Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu) aiming at reducing the vulenrabilities of Pacific communities from the impacts of climate change. Coordination in the region is carried out by SPREP.

The village of Lefagaoalii is located on the north-western coast of Savaii, the biggest island of the Samoan archipelago. It was identified by the government as the pilot site for Samoa given its unique low-lying location and vulnerability to hazards such as tropical cyclones, storm surges, flooding, landslides and tsunamis. Lefagaoalii village comprises of 81 households with a total population of about 600 people. The two destructive cyclones in the early nineties led to 79 of these households relocating uphill for safety. Less than ten households have remained in the old village site on which three church buildings and the fresh water pool that provides the main source of alternative water supply for the village are located.

More background information on CDCRM Program

In line with the government's goal to strengthen safety and resilience at the local level to ensure communities understand the risks that they are exposed to as well better equipped to prepare, respond and manage risk is the implementation of the Community Disaster and Climate Risk Management (CDCRM) Program.

The CDCRM Program was developed in 2011. This is a Government initiative which aimed at standardizing the delivery of any disaster risk management program at village level to prevent inconsistencies in disaster planning, language, having individual organizations delivery this program at different capacity levels, and a number of other issues.

The 2009 tsunami underlined the vulnerability of many communities with extensive damage and loss of life. The tsunami experiences highlight the importance of the role of the communities. It is the village population that are the first responders, and who manage the emergencies at the household and community levels. The Disaster & Emergency Act and the National Disaster Management Plan lays down the structure for disaster risk management which includes the established of Disaster Plans to be prepared and implemented at national and village levels. The CDCRM Program seeks to cover all 361 villages in Samoa.

More information on the FINPAC Project

The objectives of the FINPAC Project fit in well with those of the CDCRM, with a strong focus on raising the awareness and understanding of the village in interpreting weather and climate information and applying it for daily livelihood planning and more importantly in preparation for disasters. The main objectives of Climate & Disaster Resilience Planning workshop held earlier this year were to:

 

- SPREP Office email [email protected]  mobile 7660538

- DMO Office email [email protected]  mobile 7784143