HONOLULU — Delegates from more than a dozen Pacific nations and territories have outlined the progress they hope to make in the next decade to make their islands less vulnerable to disasters both natural and man-made. The statement, prepared last
HONOLULU — Delegates from more than a dozen Pacific nations and territories have outlined the progress they hope to make in the next decade to make their islands less vulnerable to disasters both natural and man-made.
The statement, prepared last week during the five-day Pacific Health Summit for Sustainable Disaster Risk Management at the East-West Center, summarizes the needs of individual countries and the region as a whole.
Mark Keim, a specialist with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the statement also describes progress made in disaster readiness and recovery in the region.
The strategy for many of the islands involves drawing up their own blueprint for responding to disasters.
For example, Palau has laid some of the groundwork by drafting laws to spell out emergency presidential powers, said Sandra Pierantozzi, who serves as the country’s vice president as well as its minister of health.
The delegates’ statement is to be presented next year at a United Nations disaster reduction conference in Kobe, Japan.
Summit participants included American Samoa, the Northern Marianas Islands, Cook Islands, Micronesia, Fiji, Guam, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Hawaii.
