Attachments
Overview
The Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs) continue to face significant challenges due to high disaster risk, compounded by unique challenges such as geographic dispersion and market access constraints. The region encountered major natural hazards, including tropical cyclones Judy and Kevin in Vanuatu, which led to a state of emergency affecting 80 percent of the population [1]. Disasters have a disproportionate impact on women, gender minorities, and people with disabilities in terms of food security and nutrition. The aftermath of COVID-19, combined with a global food crisis, heightened existing development challenges, threatening the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
WFP began the implementation of its new multi-country strategic plan (MCSP 2023-2027) in July. The plan focuses on supporting PICT governments and regional organizations in effective disaster risk management and coordination, better collection and analysis of food security and nutrition data, and more inclusive social protection systems, with a contingency for service delivery to support national disaster response efforts.
From July to December 2023, as the lead of the Pacific logistics cluster (PLC), WFP continued to enhance emergency preparedness and response in logistics across the PICTs. Together with Pacific governments, WFP updated the logistics capacity assessments for Vanuatu and Tonga, which provided baseline information related to humanitarian emergency preparedness and response, including the logistics infrastructure, processes and regulations, markets, and contacts of key stakeholders. WFP also completed capacity needs mapping exercises for Tonga and Nauru, evaluating the readiness of the humanitarian supply chain. WFP strengthened the supply chain capacities of national and regional partners through supporting initiatives such as the Fiji National Emergency Response Team training and collaborating with the Pacific Community (SPC) and the University of the South Pacific (USP) for a humanitarian supply chain and logistics micro-qualification programme.
WFP continued to lead the emergency telecommunications cluster (ETC) in the Pacific, supporting governments and other key regional stakeholders in enhancing emergency telecommunication systems and capacities. Collaborating with the Vanuatu Government, WFP conducted Information and communications technology capacity assessments, identifying operational gaps and setting baselines for upgrading emergency telecommunications tools. WFP also led emergency telecommunications training sessions during the Fiji National Emergency Response Team training organised by the Fiji National Disaster Management Office.
WFP continued to ramp up its efforts on enhancing data systems and improving the knowledge base through evidence generation to inform effective government policy formulation and programming. WFP collaborated with national counterparts in five countries (Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu) to collect cross-sectional data through its mobile vulnerability analysis and mapping (mVAM) tool. WFP worked with national partners to provide capacity strengthening support to technical staff on digital tools for data collection, analysis, and visualization, and developed and improved tools (such as an online data library and dashboard) as a part of capacity strengthening support to enhance national food security and nutrition systems.
WFP worked with governments to strengthen social protection systems in the Pacific to help households meet their essential needs and manage risks and shocks. WFP partnered with the Fiji Ministry of Women, Children and Social Protection for the UN-Central Emergency Response Fund anticipatory action pilot, which seeks to provide cash to social welfare beneficiaries through the existing government system prior to a cyclone. In addition to four scoping studies (on Kiribati, the Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu) completed in previous years, WFP undertook a social protection scoping study in Fiji, identifying WFP's value addition and entry points. WFP also developed social protection knowledge products for Fiji and Samoa, outlining priorities and the way forward for social protection.
On 24 October, category 4 tropical cyclone Lola made landfall in Vanuatu. WFP engaged with the Vanuatu National Disaster Management Office, the National Food Security and Agriculture Cluster, and the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer to understand the needs. WFP deployed three supply chain and logistics specialists to the Vanuatu National Disaster Management Office to provide technical support and provided necessary telecommunications equipment requested by the Government to support assessments.
WFP worked closely with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and UN Women to implement the UN Joint Programme "Accelerating Progress Towards Rural Women’s Economic Empowerment" in Fiji, Kiribati, Solomon Islands and Tonga. The programme takes a holistic approach to address the multi-faceted barriers to women’s economic empowerment, implementing diverse programme strategies that consider intersecting forms of discrimination faced by rural women. WFP also launched a Rome-based Agencies collaboration initiative and discussed entry points based on an understanding of each agency’s strengths and commonalities.