As the outgoing Chair of the Platform for Disaster Displacement (PDD), Fiji is committed to promoting global advocacy regarding the challenges of disaster displacement and outreach at the national and regional levels.
Permanent Secretary for Rural and Maritime Development and Disaster Management, Mrs Salaseini Daunabuna, gave this reassurance while welcoming Government representatives from the region.
Experts and representatives from international organisations, regional bodies and national civil society actors will be meeting in Nadi this week for a regional consultation to discuss the challenges of human mobility in the context of disasters and the adverse effects of climate change in the region.
The event is hosted by the Government of Fiji and co-organised with the Platform on Disaster Displacement (PDD), the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and partners of the Pacific Climate Change Migration and Human Security (PCCMHS) Project. It is generously supported with funding from the European Union and the government of Germany.
Mrs Daunabuna acknowledged the support of PDD, the International Organisation on Migration (IOM), the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) in convening this crucial regional dialogue concerning climate mobility.
She said this had been critical in ensuring that we were prepared as a region to handle displacement brought on by climate change and natural disasters.
“I also recognise our strengthened partnership with the Platform on Disaster Displacement over the years. We wish to also reassure the incoming Chair from the European Union (EU) of our continued support in this regard,” she said.
Ahead of the opening of the regional consultation today, the delegates made a field trip to the Tukuraki Village Relocation Project yesterday to interact and listen to the stories of the survival and resilience of the villagers.
“I am positive that some of you would have come away with a broadened perspective, seeing first-hand how relocation can affect whole communities, who are forced to move because of climate change and natural disasters. Although a sad story, it stresses the realities that we all face as a region; above all, it shows our resilience,” Mrs Daunabuna added.
She also encouraged the participants to make every opportunity count at the regional consultation by engaging in discussions of sound and sustainable solutions to address disaster placement to protect the Pacific people’s rights, health and prosperity.