The Pacific is a highly disaster prone region, where countries are threatened by a variety of natural hazards of geological and meteorological origin. The occurrence of natural hazards is also likely to be made worse by the onset of climate change. In the last 15 years the focus in disaster management in the region has mainly been on disaster response and disaster reduction, prevention and risk management activities have thus been fragmented. While this focus has recently shifted with the development of the Hyogo Framework and the Regional Framework for Action, there are still a number of challenges involved in mainstreaming disaster risk management (DRM) in the Pacific including weak institutional arrangements and capacities, and competing national priorities. 

 

As part of its mandate to assist Pacific Island countries in achieving sustainable human development and the Millennium Development Goals, the UNDP Pacific Centre is providing support to a regional initiative on the mainstreaming of Disaster Risk Management into the development strategies of Pacific Island Countries (PICs). Other regional initiatives at the Pacific Centre include the research and dissemination on the gendered dimensions of DRM in the Pacific; the development of modules for mainstreaming DRM; and facilitating the development of a website and information management tool developed to support decision makers, policy developers and DRM practitioners. At the local level the DRM team is implementing a number of pilot projects on different aspects of local level risk management.  Given the synergies between natural disasters and climate change, all the above mentioned DRM activities are being closely aligned with adaptation to climate change in the region.