UNISDR

Community disaster and climate risk management in Samoa

Samoa’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, together with the Meteorology Division and the Disaster Management Office in partnership with the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Program and the International Federation of the Red Cross in conjunction with the Samoa Red Cross Society are supporting the small community of Lefagaoalii to better understand how to respond to weather, climate and geo-hazard information during extreme events and disasters.

The FINPAC Project is a four-year, regional multilateral project funded by Finland and the World Meteorological Organization for fourteen countries in the Pacific – Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

It aims to reduce the vulnerabilities of Pacific communities to the impacts of climate change. Coordination in the region is carried out by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Program.

Lefagaoalii is a village is located on the north-western coast of Savaii, the biggest island of the Samoan archipelago. It was identified by the government as the pilot site for Samoa given its unique low-lying location and vulnerability to hazards such as tropical cyclones, storm surges, flooding, landslides and tsunamis.

Lefagaoalii is comprised of 81 households with a total population of about 600. Two destructive cyclones in the early 1990s led most families to relocate uphill for safety. Less than ten households have remained in the old village site on which three church buildings and the fresh water pool that provides the main source of alternative water supply for the village are located.

The Samoan government aims to strengthen safety and resilience at the local level by ensuring the communities understand the risks that they are exposed to, as well making them better equipped to prepare, respond and manage risk. The approach forms the bedrock of Samoa’s Community Disaster and Climate Risk Management (CDCRM) Program.

The CDCRM Program was developed in 2011. It seeks to standardize the delivery of any disaster risk management program at village level to prevent inconsistencies in disaster planning, language, having individual organizations deliver this program at different capacity levels, and a number of other issues.

The 2009 tsunami in Samoa, which claimed almost 200 lives and caused extensive damage, underlined the vulnerability of many communities. The disaster also highlighted the important role of communities in dealing with the risks that they face. Village populations are the first responders, managing emergencies at the household and community levels.

Samoa’s Disaster & Emergency Act and the National Disaster Management Plan lay down the structure for disaster risk management, including the fact disaster plans are to be prepared and implemented at national and village levels. The CDCRM Program seeks to cover all 361 villages in Samoa.

The objectives of the FINPAC Project fit well with those of the CDCRM Program, with a strong focus on raising the awareness and understanding of the village in interpreting weather and climate information and applying it to daily livelihood planning and, more importantly, in preparation for disasters.

The official handover of the pilot project in Lefagaoalii took place on 26 November 2015.

A village workshop held earlier this year focused on improving residents’ awareness and understanding of their vulnerabilities and capacities through a vulnerability and capacity assessment process; increasing community knowledge and use of weather and climate information, identifying priority weather and climate information needs including suitable delivery mechanisms and educational materials; developing a clear, simple and achievable climate and disaster resilience plan; and designing a pilot project supporting improved weather and climate services.

This post was submitted by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, to which we extend our thanks.