Efforts to build resilience must be inclusive in areas where inequalities exist in the Pacific communities, says Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) representative Kenneth Cokanasiga.
Speaking during a psychological first aid training on Monday, Mr Cokanasiga said despite developing resilience to disasters within the Pacific communities, the social and economic impact of natural disasters were still present.
“Through the Australian Humanitarian Partnership (AHP), Australia is able to support and deliver specialised training in response to disaster protracted crises and public health emergencies,” Mr Cokanasiga said.
He said Australia placed high importance on psychological first aid through networks of local and national first responders.
Empower Pacific chief executive officer Patrick Morgam said they offered their services to students and teachers during the recent bus accident in Lautoka which involved 72 students.
“Psychological first aid is important and I’m grateful that we have many organisations and companies now want this training to be done for their workers,” he said.
Church Agency Network Disaster Operation (CAN- DO) representative Reijeli Natera thanked the coordinators for organising training to help people with mental health issues.
The training program was organised by Empower Pacific in partnership with Plan International, AHP, and funded by Australian Aid.
The workshop ended on Wednesday.
