Pacific response to disaster displacement urban case study: Port Vila, Vanuatu
This paper draws upon the results of a recent study to examine the drivers, patterns, and impacts of internal displacement linked with disasters in the greater Port Vila area and surrounding communities. Vanuatu has the world’s highest disaster risk and its capital, Port Vila, has been ranked the world’s most exposed city to natural hazards. Combined exposure and vulnerability to hazards, exacerbated by rapid urbanisation, translate into repeated and widespread displacement. Port Vila’s combined exposure and vulnerability to hazards translate into repeated and widespread displacement: in 2015, the widespread damage occasioned by Tropical Cyclone Pam, in particular in informal settlements, left around 65,000 people in need of emergency shelter.
To increase the country’s resilience, the government of Vanuatu launched a National Policy on Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction in 2015, resulting in the development of a National Policy on Climate Change and Disaster-Induced Displacement in 2018. To support these efforts to better prevent and respond to disaster displacement, this paper draws upon the results of a recent study to examine the drivers, patterns, and impacts of internal displacement linked with disasters in the greater Port Vila area and surrounding communities.