Technical Working Groups
The Technical Working Groups (TWG) are established by either the Pacific Resilience Meeting or the PRP Taskforce to focus on relevant key or emerging priorities and will be defined, evolve, and be time bound as needed to identify and progress actions to support the implementation of the three goals of the FRDP.
Their membership is open to all countries, territories, CROP agencies and stakeholders with inputs welcome from all. TWG will have a clear Terms of Reference, be result focused and include milestones, timelines and sunset clauses. TWG report to the PRP Taskforce through the Support Unit, as an administrative function, and provide updates to the Pacific Resilience Meeting.
- Risk Governance and Resilient Development
The Risk Governance TWG is co-chaired by Fiji and Solomon Islands National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) Directors. The TWG was a direct outcome of the 2018 meeting in Legislating and Policymaking for Climate Smart Disaster Risk Management Workshop and the 2019 Pacific Resilience Meeting which emphasized the need for legal frameworks and institutional support mechanisms for disaster risk management to be strengthened in order to clarify roles and responsibilities and provide certainty and authority in times of disaster. Current membership includes NDMO and legal offices across the region and partners, including Fiji, Kiribati, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, PIFS, SPC, IFRC, UNDRR, UNOCHA, and PILON.
The TWG has commissioned a Pacific legal mapping, which will analyse the legislative and policy linkages between climate, disaster and health responses in the Pacific, at both domestic and regional levels. This work is being supported by IFRC and being peer reviewed by the countries that have volunteered to be part of this review.
- Disaster Risk Financing
The Disaster Risk Financing (DRF) TWG was established in 2019 in response to a need to better understand the current landscape of existing disaster risk financing mechanisms available to the region and the gaps. The TWG current membership includes Fiji Ministry of Economy, Tonga Ministry of Finance, Samoa Ministry of Finance, SPC, FAO, Australia Pacific Climate Partnership, WFP, UNDRR, IFRC, OCHA, PFIP/PICAP, Worldbank, ADB, MFAT, DFAT, Oxfam Pacific, Citywide Youth Network and Fiji National Provident Fund.
At the 2021 Pacific Forum Economic Minister Meeting (FEMM), agreed that the TWG will serve as an expert group for advisory support to FEMM on Disaster Risk Finance. The TWG as a collaboration of partners and Forum Island Countries, facilitate priorities of the FEMM in the DRF space and ensure the Economic Ministers are regularly apprised of new and emerging opportunities for strengthened financial protection against disasters.
Disaster Risk Financing TWG Working Pillars
About Disaster Risk Financing & Typologies
Disaster Risk Financing Instruments
- Activities
Pacific Island countries and territories are significantly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change-related and geological hazards. Disasters, caused by natural and other hazards such as COVID-19, carry an expensive price tag-particularly in terms of the costs that are often involved in the immediate response and relief period. To increase appreciation, understanding and emphasise the importance of strengthening financial resilience of countries to disasters, the Disaster Risk Finance Technical Working Group of the Pacific Resilience Partnership (hereinafter referred to as the DRFWG) is currently undarkening learning series on DRF. The DRF landscape globally and particularly in the Pacific is evolving rapidly, with a wide range of financing instruments targeting different phases of a disaster as well different audiences. The DRF learning series will ’shed a light’ and build on the initiatives that members of the DRFWG have thus far undertaken individually and collectively over the period 2019 – 2021 in helping PICs to strengthen their capacity to be more financially resilient against disasters. Some of these includes:
- Virtual Learning Episodes
Virtual Learning Episodes (VLEs) – The VLEs will focus on introducing the concept, practices, and options of disaster risk financing for different members of the PIC governments and communities. It will also showcase practical examples from the region. The first VLE was held on 26th April, 2022 which focused on the Basics of DRF. The recording can be accessed on link below.
DRF Virtual Learning Episode Summaries
- The Disaster Risk Financing Symposium
The Disaster Risk Financing Symposium - The Inaugural Symposium was held from 3-4 May 2022 in a hybrid event under the theme: Effective Disaster Risk Financing - Unpacking the elements of a Disaster Risk Financing Strategy”. The event was attended by sstakeholders from Pacific government, private sector, civil society organisations, regional, development and donor partners. The symposium provided Regional DRF actors with in-depth understanding and knowledge of the elements necessary to formulate an effective Disaster Risk Financing Strategy. It also provided an opportunity for stakeholders involved in DRF decision making and those most affected by their implementation to discuss ways of improving DRF modalities to be “fit for purpose.”
Presentations
Asian DRFI Perspective Part II
- Human Mobility (migration, displacement and relocation) in the context of increasing climate and disaster risk
The Human Mobility TWG is chaired by the International Organization on Migration (IOM). The TWG was established to the 2019 Pacific Resilience Meeting Outcomes which called for all partners to address issues of climate-driven and disaster-induced displacement and planned relocation with such collaboration requiring improved understanding of diverse community needs, experiences, knowledge, capacity and perspectives. Current membership includes representatives from Governments, UN Agencies Development Partners, NGO’s CROP, academia and youth. TWG-Human Mobility provides a space for coordination of activities, including regional programmes in the field of disaster displacement and climate mobility, led by TWG members and enables the exchange of practices, discussion of regional policies and joint approaches, as well as enable and support Pacific inputs to global policy discussions.
In 2021, the TWG organized the Pacific Regional Consultation on Internal Displacement in collaboration with the UN Secretary General’s High Level Panel on Internal Displacement. The meeting was a demonstration of strong collaboration through the PRP with the TWG facilitating a platform for Pacific national governments to dialogue and share their perspectives on issues of internal displacement with a global mechanism that is tasked with finding solutions to the global internal displacement crisis. It was a practical and tangible example of the potential value-add of the TWG and in this particular case serving as a regional expert platform with the capacity to support governments and partners on specific issues.
- Localisation TWG
The TWG on Localization is co-chaired by PIANGO, FemLink and Fiji Disabled People’s Federation. The focus of the TWG is to establish communities of best practice actively engaging in knowledge sharing in disaster preparedness, response and recovery. The TWG will also highlight the need to support localized women-led humanitarian responses by bringing attention to existing women led initiatives that also prevent age and disability exclusion so that diverse women leaders must be driving community-based responses to ensure long-term sustainability by strengthening the humanitarian and development nexus. The TWG membership includes various humanitarian and development actors from government, civil society, private sector, Faith-based Organizations (FBO) and Community-based Organizations (CBO) covering over 22 Pacific Islands and Territories.
It commissioned a mapping survey to identify who is doing what in Humanitarian action in the region, document the support mechanisms in place and use the information to develop a plan to strengthen and build on the current work. The outcomes of the survey has been documented in a report and launched through the PRP webinar series on May 25, 2021. The results of the mapping activity has been compiled into a report and was endorsed by the TWG members in February 2021. Click below to retrieve a copy.
- Information Knowledge Management (IKM) TWG
The Information Knowledge Management (IKM) TWG is chaired by PNG with SPC as the Secretariat. The IKM TWG was established in 2011 to support the work of the Pacific Climate Change Roundtable (PCCR) and its terms of reference and scope of work was further modified in 2019 in line with the establishment of the PRP. Current membership includes 11 PICs and development partners. A five-point strategy was developed to guide the focus and the work of the TWG which includes knowledge brokering, developing case study products, compiling IKM regional assessment reports and explore opportunities raised from the Pacific Data Hub & the Australia Pacific Climate Partnership.
- Water Security Advocacy TWG
Water security is critical to disaster and climate resilience in the Pacific due to the inextricable links of water to food security, energy, health, economic development, environmental well-being, and the health of ecosystems. Despite its importance, engagement on this issue is still low. As a result, the Pacific continues to some of the lowest levels of access to safe water and sanitation of any region in the world and remains disproportionately affected by the water-related impacts of disasters and climate change - including floods and drought. If current trajectories persist, millions of Pacific islanders will continue to endure water insecurity for generations.
The Water Security Technical Working Group (WSTWG) was established in response to the Call to Action from the 2019 Pacific High-Level Dialogue on Water and Sanitation to accelerate action to support the basic water and sanitation needs of our region’s most vulnerable.
The WSTWG:
- aligns its work with the goals of the Framework for Resilient Development in the Pacific (FRDP) and responds to national development strategies to adapt to climate change and variability;
- responds to priority needs in national climate change policies and adaptation plans, nationally determined contributions, and national communications reports that call for increasing the adaptive capacity and resilience of key vulnerable sectors; and
- aims to increase regional engagement, cooperation, and action on water security as a critical component of resilience by increasing multi-stakeholder engagement through the development of a regional water security engagement strategy.
Technical and Secretariate support is provided by the Building Regional Action and Cooperation on Water Security Project (BRAC) funded by New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFAT). The working group has a diverse membership comprising representatives from governments, international non-government organizations, development partners, donors, civil society, youth organizations, disability organizations, media, regional organizations, water utilities, and academia. The working group commenced on 7th February 2023, with meetings every two months.
- Pacific Based Carbon Mechanism TWG
This TWG is being led by PIFS and worked in collaboration with the Micronesian Centre for Sustainable Transport
- Resilient Infrastructure & Resilient Housing TWG
The purpose of this TWG is to support the various actors and projects enhancing resilient infrastructure in the Pacific through strengthening coordination to avoid duplication of efforts, promoting best practices, providing guidance for national initiatives, and facilitating exchange of lessons learned.
https://spc.zoom.us/rec/share/rjQ2PLkoosvMgeZ2ZksjGj40LAKTEjQ1TKhCfvQ_eCEi-WTJcTjLBl5NKYaN6Rcq.tbJSXRWoTqNC-leX
Passcode: resilience123!
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