New Zealand will contribute $3.45 million to Fiji’s National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) to support emergency management initiatives in Fiji.
This was confirmed by New Zealand’s Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty after the signing of a memorandum of co-operation (MOC) between New Zealand’s National Emergency Management Agency and the Fiji NDMO at the NZ high commissioner’s official residence yesterday.
“The funding will assist with peer-to-peer capacity building and establishment of a new disaster warehouse in Fiji’s Northern Division,” he said.
“This is significant and an additional element of NZ’s assistance to Fiji.”
Mr McAnulty said relationships were not just around governments but between individuals.
He said both countries could learn from each other through their sharing and relationships.
“We should always take every opportunity to nurture those relationships.
“New Zealand and Fiji geographically are very different and when a natural severe weather event hits Fiji, it will have a different effect in New Zealand than it does in Fiji but if we rise above that, we are dealing with the same things,” Mr McAnulty said.
“We’re dealing with rural communities that are hit hard, impacts on food production, impacts on infrastructure.
These are areas in both our countries where in time people may not be able to reside, like Hawkes Bay, where the delegation deployment assisted.
“We are having those conversations now and there are some areas where people can no longer continue to live because it’s no longer safe.”
The funding is provided through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade International Development Cooperation Program.
