Attachments
The Emergency Telecommunications Cluster in the Pacific is led by the WFP Pacific Multi-Country Office (PMCO) and was activated in 2016 under the structure of the Pacific Humanitarian Team (PHT) to support telecommunications preparedness in the region. Situation reports are distributed every quarter.
Highlights
• The WFP-led Pacific ETC hosted the “Tech Together – Advancing Regional Coordination workshop”, in Nadi, Fiji from 23 – 25 September. Government experts from 14 Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs) united to discuss pathways for establishing regional coordination frameworks.
• From 30 July to 1 August, as part of its capacity-strengthening initiative, the WFP-led Pacific ETC organized a Continuous Improvement (CI) workshop in the Kingdom of Tonga to deepen its Analysis of Organisational Training Needs (AOTN) activity.
• On 15 July, the ETC coordinator participated in the International Cooperation Disaster Risk Management workshop in Vanuatu organized by the Japan Telecommunications Engineering and Consulting Service (JTEC) and the Government of Vanuatu. The ETC Coordinator presented on coordination in disaster response and facilitated a session on Early Warning System (EWS).
ETC Activities Coordination
The ETC in the Pacific is led by the WFP Pacific Multi Country Office (MCO) and was activated in 2016 under the Pacific Humanitarian Team (PHT) to support telecommunications preparedness in the region. ETC funding in the Pacific is received under the WFP MultiCountry Strategic Plan (MCSP) and preparedness and emergency response activities carried out by the ETC in the Pacific are under the leadership of WFP.
The Pacific ETC continues to collaborate with relevant stakeholders as part of its ongoing commitment to strengthening ICT preparedness capacity, regional coordination for disaster preparedness and response in the Pacific which is guided by the cluster Terms of Reference (TOR). The WFP-led Pacific ETC hosted its first large-scale regional Tech Together workshop from 23-25 September in Fiji. Tech Together brought together 28 participants from 14 Pacific governments, NDMOs, regulators and private sector representatives in a three-day workshop aimed shaping the Pacific ETC’s understanding of the challenges, risks and commonalities that Pacific Island Countries and Territories face in telecommunications preparedness. The findings and outcomes of the workshop will shape the establishment of a more adapted regional emergency telecommunications cluster, tailored to best support governments better prepare to withstand the shocks of climate threats and geohazards.