PNG prepares early for potential El Nino event

Port Moresby - Key disaster risk management and Government stakeholders held a two day workshop this week to prepare for a potential El Nino event in August which could bring drier-than-normal conditions to Papua New Guinea (PNG).

Since March, several global and regional climate agencies have predicted a potential occurrence of El Niño in the second half of 2017. Based on these reports, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), has indicated a 50 per cent likelihood of a return to El Niño conditions by August 2017.

The 2015 and 2016 El Niño climate event caused widespread drought and frost in PNG, which affected an estimated 2.4 million people[1] (532,000 households) across the country (approximately 40 per cent of the population) with 480,000 people impacted by severe food shortages.

Aside from food insecurity and malnutrition, the 2015 El Niño-induced drought also created a number of other critical needs including water shortages, lack of proper sanitation, and increased incidences of communicable disease. The shortage of water led to the closure of many schools and the economic impact of that phenomena was estimated to be wide-spread, affecting small-to medium size businesses as well as bigger industries such as mining.

The El Niño Early Action Planning Workshop held in Port Moresby on May 30 - 31 at Lamana Hotel was facilitated by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and OCHA, with overall leadership provided by the National Disaster Centre (NDC). Participants scoped out the potential impacts of the projected El Niño event and developed a common strategy and action plan aimed at managing potential risks and identifying emergency response preparedness priorities for implementation.

“This workshop provided a critical platform for the Government of PNG, humanitarian and development agencies to prepare for this potential El Nino event," said Mr Roy Trivedy, UNDP Resident Representative in PNG and the UN Resident Coordinator.

"If we return to El Niño conditions without adequate preparations at national and sub-national levels, that could lead to significant and severe humanitarian impacts especially as many vulnerable communities are still recovering from the 2015/16 El Niño event," he said.

"As such, it's vital that a timely and well-coordinated early action approach involving key stakeholders is adopted and I congratulate all the stakeholders, especially the Government of PNG, for coming together today to drive this process forward."

Mr Trivedy, the co-chair of the PNG Disaster Management Team, said PNG was taking the lead in the Asia-Pacific region to drive the concept of 'Early Action' which integrates development and humanitarian approaches to mitigate and prepare for disasters.

“The workshop helped all of us to map out the potential impacts of an El Niño in 2017 based on climate modelling, current vulnerabilities and disaster impact modelling to aid planning of immediate risk management and response preparedness activities”, explained Mr Martin Mose, Acting Director of the National Disaster Centre.

“Drawing on our common experiences from the 2015/2016 El Niño, the formulation of a common strategy and action plan will allow our partners to align all their efforts in support of the PNG Government’s priorities and this will be based on likely impacted locations and sectors,” said Mr Mose.

Following this workshop, disaster risk management and humanitarian partners will, in close coordination with the National Disaster Centre, commence immediate risk management and preparedness activities while continuing to monitor closely the evolving El Niño projection.

Participating in today’s workshop alongside UN agencies, non-government organisations, faith-based organisations, private sector partners and bilateral donors were representatives from key government stakeholders including Department of Agriculture and Livestock, Department of Community Development and Religion, Department of Education, Department of Health, Department of Judiciary and Attorney General, Department of National Planning and Monitoring, Department of Prime Minister, National Agricultural Research Institute , National Disaster Centre, National Weather Service and Provincial and Regional Administrations (Bougainville, Chimbu, Central, Eastern Highlands, East New Britain, Enga, Gulf, Jiwaka, Madang, Manus, Morobe, Milne Bay, Oro, Western Highlands, Western, West New Britain).

This workshop was supported by partners including the Australian Government, UN Trust Fund for Human Security, UNICEF, CARE in PNG, Oxfam in PNG, Plan International and World Vision International.

[1] Based on the findings of a country-wide rapid assessment in September 2015, led by the National Disaster Centre.