Australia reaffirms commitment to Papua New Guinea’s humanitarian assistance and disaster response at the 9th Provincial Disaster Coordinators’ Conference in Mt Hagen this week.
Australia was pleased to jointly sponsor the conference alongside the Government of Papua New Guinea and supported by the United Nations.
This year’s theme was “50 years on: Reset, Realign, Resource, and Respond – Building Resilient Communities Together.”
The National Disaster Centre (NDC) led conference brought together more than 100 Provincial Disaster Coordinators from across Papua New Guinea, key PNG Government agencies, development partners, donors and humanitarian specialists to consider how to bolster PNG’s disaster preparedness, response and management capabilities.
Secretary for Defence and Chairman of the NDC Mr. Hari John Akipe delivered the keynote address, setting out the PNG Government’s priorities for building resilient communities and strengthening coordination across all levels of government.
Representing Australia, Ms. Elizabeth Le Bas, Minister Counsellor at the Australian High Commission, presented at the conference highlighting Australia’s long history supporting humanitarian assistance to PNG during disasters, as well as its strategic assistance in preparedness and community resilience.
Ms. Le Bas emphasized Australia’s commitment to working side by side with the PNG Government in responding to disasters.
“Australia stands with Papua New Guinea in building resilient communities.”
“Australia is proud to be the first responder to support the PNG Government’s disaster response efforts, and we are committed to working with key PNG stakeholders to carry out preparedness, response and recovery efforts.”
Ms. Le Bas stated that the PGK68 million humanitarian and disaster relief package announced at the recent Ministerial Forum will support PNG’s disaster management and response capabilities.
Australia and Papua New Guinea’s close cooperation on disaster management reflects the depth of the broader bilateral relationship, said Le Bas.
“In times of disaster, Australia is a trusted partner, working with Papua New Guinea side by side and step by step to protect lives, livelihoods and communities.”
The humanitarian and disaster relief package announced in October responds to the priorities identified by Minister Billy Joseph and the PNG Government, and includes:
- Construction of new humanitarian warehouses to strengthen PNG’s ability to respond rapidly to disasters across the country.
- A twinning partnership between Australia’s National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the PNG National Disaster Centre (NDC) to enhance capacity building, training and institutional links.
- Scoping for the construction of an emergency command and control centre in Port Moresby to improve risk monitoring and coordination of disaster responses at national level.
This builds on a broad suite of Australian support already in place to work with the PNG Government and Provincial Disaster Coordinators, including through multilateral and non-government organizations. Australia supports the PNG Defence Force’s response efforts, including through the National Disaster Centre, and work with humanitarian partners to build the capacity and capability of the national humanitarian preparedness and response systems.
“Australia maintains in-country humanitarian warehousing capabilities to enable timely deployment and distribution of lifesaving relief in the event of an emergency.”
To build resilience, Australia supports the PNG Government and local communities to lead inclusive national adaptation and disaster risk reduction efforts to mitigate the shared threat of environmental disasters and continue support for capability in geohazards and forecasting through Geoscience Australia and the Bureau of Meteorology.
“We also work with Australian and International NGOs and their local partners through the Australian Humanitarian Partnership to build community resilience and contribute to disaster and humanitarian response efforts.”
