Provincial Disaster Committee Chairpersons and Provincial Disaster Coordinators from across Papua New Guinea will present their respective El Niño Drought Assessment Reports to the Minister for Health and National Disaster Services, Hon. Dr Billy M. Joseph, MP, on Friday, August 28.
The meeting, to be held at the Sheraton Hotel in Port Moresby, will also feature the launching of the Provincial Disaster Institutional Capacity Assessment and discussions on the deployment of a multi-sectoral inter-agency assessment of the El Niño situation.
Minister Joseph said the provincial reports would be assessed through the National Emergency Operation Centre’s Standard Operating Procedures to determine the severity of the disaster in each province and their eligibility to receive support from the National Government through the National Disaster Centre.
He said the National Disaster Centre had already rolled out assessment tools and provided training to provincial disaster officials to standardise the reporting structure.
“The National Disaster Centre is coordinating with partners on the ground to support a whole-of-government approach and speed up the multi-sectoral inter-agency assessment,” Minister Joseph said.
The presentation of the provincial reports will precede the launch of the Provincial Disaster Institutional Capacity Assessment, a joint initiative of the National Disaster Centre and the International Organization for Migration, with funding support from the United States Government and the Australian Government.
Minister Joseph also commended IOM for partnering with the National Disaster Centre to ensure the successful completion of the Provincial Disaster Capacity Assessment.
The assessment process is expected to provide the National Government with a clearer picture of the impact and severity of the El Niño drought situation across the provinces and help guide decisions on appropriate government support and response measures.