For the people of Naqali Village in Naitasiri who are prone to flooding, the United Nations has extended its arm to helping them prepare for natural disasters.
At the village yesterday, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) Fiji hosted the UN secretary-general for disaster risk reduction, Mami Mizutori.
his was the first high level delegation visit for Naqali which is the evacuation centre for the people of the province who are often stranded there because of flooding.
“We are here to listen to you and we would like to hear from your experience from what we can do to support you and we will take your information when we discuss with government donors but also within the UN system,” Ms Mizutori said.
Through a partnership between ADRA Fiji and the French Government, Naqali is being assisted as part of the “Building Disaster Resilience for People with Disabilities in the Pacific”.
Complementing this project, UN Women is improving the adaptive capacities of women and girls (youth) to withstand multiple hazards, recover from disasters and increase their resilience to present and future risks.
The projects disaster risk reduction (DRR) effort includes community-based disaster management training, DRR women in leadership training, women resilience livelihood support and women resilience business support.
“I would like to pay respect for the resilience of the village in the face of so many challenges. And in particular, you are mindful as a community to take care of the women and girls, persons living with disability.
“This is very important for all of us and I’m very honoured to see that in this village.”
Village headman Mosese Vosabeci thanked the UN and ADRA representatives for bringing DRR activity and training to the people of Naqali.
ADRA is wworking with the villagers to ensure Naqali operates an inclusive evacuation centre.
The project’s aim is to prepare communities to operate inclusive evacuation centres through trainings, so villagers are aware of what to do in response to disasters.
