Cyclone Gita first test of Pacific Disaster Resilience Program

Source(s): Matangi Tonga Online, Vava'u Press Ltd.

The Asian Development Bank's response to Cyclone Gita was the first test of the Pacific Disaster Resilience (PDR) Program set up to help island states such as Tonga get back on their feet after natural calamities, says a new ADB publication.

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Set up in December 2017, the PDR program allocates $15 million in policy-based loans and Asian Development Fund  (ADF) grants for Samoa, Tonga, and Tuvalu when disasters occur and also supports priority actions for disaster risk management.

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The report says Moana Fakava-Kioa knows how important immediate action is. The night Gita struck, she was at her desk at the National Emergency Management Office (NEMO), part of Tonga’s Ministry of Meteorology, Energy, Information, Disaster Management, Environment, Climate Change and Communications, which coordinates all emergency management activities in the country and plays a major role in raising awareness about disaster preparedness.

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Climate change poses extreme challenges for ADF countries. The climate change and disaster risks and impacts to which their economies and people are especially vulnerable are growing in number and magnitude. Yet these countries lack the resources to either prepare for these events or recover quickly or fully after they are hit.

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Hazards Cyclone
Country and region Tonga
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