PNG_Endformat.vp

Papua New Guinea

1. The Facts

With more than 700 native tongues, Papua New Guinea (PNG) is the world's most linguistically diverse nation.
However, many tribal groups have little or no contact with each other – let alone the outside world. More than
80% live in rural areas with few or no facilities. Situated on the Pacific Ring of Fire, at the point of collision of
several tectonic plates, PNG is prey to volcanic activity, earthquakes and tidal waves. The fast facts follow:

The Independent State of Papua New Guinea

Population: 6.1 million

(1)

Share of income or consumption, poorest 10% in percent [richest 10%]

1.7% [40.5%]

(2)

Share of income or consumption, poorest 20% in percent [richest 20%]

4.5% [56.5%]

(2)

Life expectancy at birth, annual estimates (2005)

56.9 years

(1)

Adult illiteracy rate (15 and older, 1995-2005)

42.7%

(3)

Children underweight for age (under age 5, 1996-2005)

35%

(4)

Population not using an improved water source, in percent (2004) [real figures]

61% [3.7 million]

(5)

Physicians (per 100,000 people, 2000-04)

5 [equals one doctor per 20,000 people]

(6)

Human Development Index (HDI) value [rank]

0.530 [rank: 145 of 177]

(7,8)

Natural Disaster Index (NDI) value [risk; rank]

1.9 [risk: "extreme"; rank: 23 of 204]

(9,10,12)

FACTSHEET

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Date:

February

2008

The Format:
1. The Facts
2. The Forces
3. The Faces
4. The Forecasts
5. The Focus
6. The Future
7. The Footnotes

Photo: C. Eckrom

The Series: Looking at countries in the context of natural catastrophes

positions World Vision to better predict, prevent or prepare for the onslaught of di-
sasters. The rationale is simple: disasters can wipe out years of development in mere
minutes. Reducing disaster risks is not an optional extra – but an extra obligation. It is
at the heart of sustainable development.

Disaster
Monitor

asiapacific

fact sheets

2. The Forces

“People who live in the Pacific Islands or Papua New Guinea are among the most vulnerable to disasters any-
where on earth. The threat of tidal surges, earthquakes, volcanoes and storms is ever present. Now they face
a new challenge, climate change and rising sea levels.” (Laurence Gray, World Vision Advocacy Director Asia
Pacific Regional Office)

(11)

Disaster Environment: The severity of any disaster de-
pends on two factors: the country context within which
the disaster occurs, and the nature and force of the on-
slaught itself. Given a country context like that of Papua
New Guinea with poor infrastructure and only one doctor
for every 20,000 people, catastrophes can be cataclysmic.

PNG's disaster environment is defined in large by its geo-
graphical location on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area of fre-
quent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions encircling the
basin of the Pacific Ocean. Its vast land area, diverse and
rugged geography, populous highlands, dense rainforests
and highly exposed coastal regions make the monitoring
and mitigation of disasters extremely difficult. The chall-
enges are compounded by the fact that many tribes live
within non-monetarised isolated economies.

Disaster Definition: The Center for Research on the
Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) defines a disaster as a
"situation or event, which overwhelms local capacity, ne-
cessitating a request to national or international level for
external assistance; an unforeseen and often sudden event
that causes great damage, destruction and human suffer-
ing." For a disaster to be entered into the EM-DAT

(12)

data-

base, at least one of the following criteria must be fulfilled:

•

10 or more people reported killed

•

100 people reported affected

•

Declaration of a state of emergency

•

Call for international assistance

Past Years: Using this definition, the years 1990-2007
have seen PNG impacted by 40 natural disasters. The ma-
jority of these disasters have featured little in international
news but amount to great developmental destruction
when added together (figure 1). The pie charts show the
prevalence of natural catastrophes by disaster types (figure
2) and the number of people affected by them (figure 3).

Volcanoes are the most prevalent (22%) natural disaster ac-
tivity, tsunamis the most deadly (2,182 people killed) and
droughts exert the most far-reaching effect on the popula-
tion (more than 500,000 people affected).

Past Century: Mega-disasters – sometimes called "disas-
ters of the century" – occur less frequently, but their de-
structive force can overpower a vulnerable nation. Figures
4 and 5 show two perspectives of the top three natural di-
sasters in Papua New Guinea since record-keeping began
in 1930. [Data based on

(12)

Figure 1: Impact from 40 natural disasters (summary for 1990-2007)

Human Impact

Cumulative Total Annual Average

1. People killed

3,084

171

2. People affected 1,160,814

64,490

3. Damage caused US$ 162.2 million

US$ 9 million

Figure 2: Prevalence of natural disasters by types

(period: 1990-2007; total: 40 disasters)

Figure 3: Number of people affected by natural disaster types

(period: 1990-2007; total: 1,160,814 people affected)

Figure 4: Worst disasters (by people killed; period: 1930-2007)

Top Three Disasters (Date)

People killed

1. Volcano (15 January 1951)

3,000

2. Wave / Surge (17 July 1998)

2,182

3. Volcano (29 May 1937)

506

Figure 5: Worst disasters (by people affected; period: 1930-2007)

Top Three Disasters (Date)

People affected

1. Drought (September 1997)

500,000

2. Volcano (19 September 1994)

152,002

3. Wind Storm (12 November 2007)

143,000

FACTSHEET

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Drought

Volcano

22%

Slides

15%

Flood

19%

Epidemic

10%

Earthquake

17%

Wind Storm

Wave / Surge

Wild Fires

Flood

207,193

Epidemic

3,610

Earthquake

31,071

Drought

500,000

Wind Storm

190,540

Wild Fires

8,000

Volcano

194,730

Slides

15,803

Wave / Surge

9,867

3. The Faces

Manam is one of six high-risk volcanoes in Papua New Guinea. It is 1807 metres high (3000 metres from the
ocean floor) and erupts frequently. The earliest documented eruption occurred in 1616 and the most recent
in 2007 (ongoing).

(15)

In 2004 is was the site of the largest eruption in the world. There were no fatalities. How-

ever, thousands of islanders were evacuated after suffering weeks of sustained scoria and ash pollution (photo).

The volcano first erupted on 24 October 2004 and
remained active throughout November, completely bury-
ing the villages of Bokure, Kolang and Warise under hot
lava. However, villagers trained by World Vision in disaster
preparedness in 2003 mitigated the effects so that islanders
responded quickly and managed to flee before the lava hit.
Prior to being evacuated to Bogia, all 18 villages on Manam
(total population 9,467) were in desperate need of food,
water, shelter and medicine as a result of ash fall pollution.
Islanders called the eruption "the worst" in their lifetime.

The arrivals looked sick and tired, carrying with them
all their belongings. Small children were among the group,
carrying their own domestic animals such as cats, dogs and
chickens. People also brought canoes, special seedlings and
other items with them. According to World Vision Relief
Manager Harry Gubala who was on site and assisted in the
evacuation, the most vulnerable people were taken to
Bogia Health Centre as soon as they arrived at the wharf.
Many children looked malnourished after surviving on ash-
affected food crops and water for over a month.

FACTSHEET

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

“Manam Motu” is an inhabited island created from the
activity of the Manam volcano. Its 9,000 islanders who live
in the volcanic shadow have their own language called
“Manam Pile” (literally “Manam Talk”). As subsistence
farmers their livelihoods are under constant threat from
cinder, ash falls and sulphuric fumes. One eyewitness said,
“The earth shakes and the houses and all the trees bend
over whenever the volcano thunders. It is so frightening.”

Photo: H. Gubala

Manam volcano eruption: Smoke seen from sea on 26 October
2004, two days after first major eruption. Preparedness training car-
ried out in 2003 mitigated disaster effects and averted loss of life.

Evacuated Manam islanders.
Photos left and right: H. Gubala

Ship transporting evacuees from
Manam Island to Bogia wharf.

Volcanic eruptions (red), Manam
volcano (white). [Smithsonian Inst.]

Ash plume from Manam volcano
captured by NASA's Terra Satellite.

15 November 2004

28 November 2004

PNG's Volcanoes

Photo: S. Ivahupa, World Vision

4. The Forecasts

“The countries most vulnerable are least able to protect themselves.” (Kofi Annan)

(16)

“There are times for

hoping for the best and for not wanting to sound ‘alarmist.’ But the forecasts

are alarming. There comes a

time for recognising that we have overstepped the mark and have no right to be taking the reckless risks we
are taking; and for issuing an urgent clarion call for action. That time is now.” (Brett Parris)

(17)

The Trends: Over recent decades, the number of natural
disasters has steadily risen, both globally, regionally (figure
1) and nationally (figure 2). Past progressions (below) and
future forecasts (right) speak the same language.

Figure 1: Natural disasters trend, Asia / World (1975-2006)

(12)

Figure 2: Natural disasters trend, PNG (1975-2006)

(12)

Climate change has the potential to undo the last
50 years of development work. The poorest will
be hit first and worst. Policy makers and NGOs
must help Papua New Guinea prepare itself.

Global Forecasts: Recent assessment reports by the
UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC),
the recognised global authority on climate change honoured
with the Nobel Peace Prize 2007, have released substan-
tive scientific forecasts about global climate change:

(18)

•

Probable temperature rise by 2100: 1.8-4.0º C

•

Probable sea level rise: 18-59 cm

Rising sea levels mean more and more severe floods. The
trend is not only expected to continue but to accelerate.
During the last century, global sea levels rose 10-25 cm
which – given the predictions – amounts to a two- to
five-fold acceleration.

(14)

The effects are undeniable. In

2006 the world was impacted by a record 226 floods (up
from an average 162 over previous years).

(19)

About 1.5

billion people were affected by floods in the last decade of
the 20th century.

(21)

IPCC forecasts for "small island

states" are made with "high" to "very high" confidence:
“Sea-level rise is expected to exacerbate inundation,
storm surge, erosion and other coastal hazards, thus
threatening vital infrastructure, settlements and facilities
that support the livelihood of island communities.”

(13)

National Forecasts: Papua New Guinea is one of the
most heterogeneous yet least explored nations on earth.
This makes cross-cutting national forecasts difficult. How-
ever, prognoses can be inferred from current impacts such
as shifting tectonic plates which seem to make sea level
rises more pronounced in Oceania than global averages
and IPCC forecasts (above) suggest. Indications are that
Papua New Guinea may be at the forefront of future
changes that could impact Oceania as a whole.

Diseases such as malaria already pose serious challenges to
communities in the Pacific, a trend expected to worsen
with climate change.

(25)

For low-lying islands, sea level rises

and extreme weather events pose significant risks and
could displace entire populations. The world's first climate
change-related evacuation of low-lying islands is now
underway in Papua New Guinea's Carteret Islands,

(20)

and Tuvalu has already secured New Zealand's agreement
to accept an annual quota of its citizens as "environmental
refugees."

(14)

Coral atolls are particulary vulnerable to

water shortages as seeping ocean water salinates scarce
groundwater supplies. In the Carteret Atoll percolating
saltwater progressively contaminated wells and destroyed
food gardens locals used to grow taro, breadfruit and ba-
nanas. The Carterets are among the hardest hit islands in
the Pacific and may be completely submerged by as early
as 2015.

(22)

Communities across Oceania face a similar

fate. The age of climate change migration has begun.

FACTSHEET

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Number of Natural Disasters in

Asia

and the

World

(1975-2006)

100

200

300

400

500

600

1975

1980

1985

1990

1995

2000

2005

Number of Natural Disasters in

Papua New Guinea (1975-2006)

1975

1980

1985

1990

1995

2000

2005

5. The Focus

“Just as you do not tell a person staring at their blazing house that it is not burning because science has not yet
agreed on the cause of the fire, so you cannot tell Pacific island countries that they should ignore the changes
their are now experiencing.” (Tamari’i Tutangata, former Director of the South Pacific Regional Environ-
ment Programme, SPREP)

(25)

Climate Change Refugees: Climate change migration
has become a reality in Papua New Guinea. It is reported
that the village of Labutali on the Huon Gulf peninsula is
preparing to relocate its 1,500 residents two kilometres
inland "because of rising sea levels." After much convincing
the village had reached the decision to "relocate Labutali
for the safety of the residents." The new village site is called
Pohamo.

(23)

That Sinking Feeling: Islands in PNG (photo) and
Oceania are in growing danger of disappearing under the
sea. In 2005, a political decision was reached to evacuate
the Carteret Islands and resettle its tiny population of
2,600 islanders on larger Bougainville Island, a four-hour
boat ride to the southwest. Ten families at a time are being
moved under the resettlement programme until the
whole island population is fully evacuated. There has been
a reluctance to leave, especially among older islanders, but
after fighting a losing battle against the ocean for more than
20 years (building sea walls and planting mangroves), it ap-
pears the islanders have finally given up hope, resigned to
be among the world’s first climate change refugees.

(32)

Exit Strategy: Recently, Papua New Guinea's Prime Min-
ister Sir Michael Somare approved K4.1 million (US$1.3
million) to resettle PNG villagers affected by global warm-
ing (with nearly half allocated for the Carteret islanders).
The debate about what is causing the island atoll to sink
includes multiple factors ranging from regional tectonic
plate movements to global warming and accompanying
sea level rises.

(24)

Causes probably act in concert.

Low-Lying Atolls: The Carterets are a portent of catas-
trophe to come for other low-lying atolls of the South Pa-
cific. The highest point of the Carterets lies no more than
1.7 metres above sea level, a vulnerability shared across
Oceania where the majority of Pacific islands lie only 1-2
metres above sea level

(25)

and are on the brink of being

swallowed by the sea. Low-lying islands elsewhere face the
same threat. "For the Maldives, where 80 percent of the
land area is less than 1 metre above sea level, even the
most benign climate change scenarios point to deep vul-
nerabilities."

(26)

Pacific Atlantis: At least two motu or islets have disap-
peared in 1999 – Tebua Tarawa and Abanuea – the latter
ironically known locally as "long-lasting beach." Until re-
cently, local fishermen in Kiribati used Tebua Tarawa as a
resting place to beach their boats and harvest coconuts to
slake their thirst. Then the coconuts disappeared, then the
sand banks – now the fishing boats skim over it as it lies be-
neath the waves. In Tuvalu, the oceans have similarly begun
to reclaim the motu of Tepuka Savilivili.

(25)

The Next Wave: Sea-level monitoring has shown signif-
icant variability, including rises in sea level of up to 25 milli-
metres a year, well above IPCC estimates.

(25)

Whether

differences mark decadal variations or the beginning of an
impending end, Pacific islanders have long begun to exhort
each other to believe not the statistical data but to "believe
with their eyes."

(27)

As tidal surges are becoming stronger

and more frequent, committed global action is needed to
prepare islanders who are losing their land to the sea.

FACTSHEET

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

“According to one of the world’s most prominent [NASA] climate

scientists, ice sheet disintegration ... could yield sea level rises in
the order of 5 metres this century. ... The IPCC sets out what can
be thought of as a lowest common denominator consensus...
Headline risk numbers may err on the side of understatement.”

—UN Human Development Report 2007/2008

(28)

Photo: T. Peluso

Paradise

Lost?

6. The Future

“The poor are currently suffering and will continue to suffer the most from climate change. They are least
able to protect themselves. Climate change will exacerbate poverty and the solutions proposed to respond to
climate change will affect the trajectory of every country’s future development. Climate change is fundamen-
tally a development problem, not simply an environmental problem.” (Brett Parris)

(17)

Water: If coasts are suffering from saltwater intrusion,
coastal communities are suffering from freshwater scarcity.

(13)

The 2007/2008 UN Human Development Report

highlights that in Papua New Guinea 61 percent of the
population cannot access an "improved water source,"
making it the "second least developed nation" in the world in
terms of "population using an improved water source."

(31)

While most countries have made developmental gains in
this area, PNG had the same water security score in 1990
and 2004.

Drought: The problem of continuing water scarcity is es-
pecially disquieting in light of a growing preponderance of
dry spells in the region. The 1997 drought afflicted 500,000
people across PNG and drove many people in the high-
lands and low-lying islands close to starvation.

(12)

But the

drought's regional ripple effect also created "major prob-
lems for water supplies and food production in the Pacific,"
affecting Micronesia, Fiji, the Marshall Islands, Samoa and
Tonga. In Fiji, sugar cane production "fell by two-thirds,"
Tonga's squash crop was "more than halved," and in Micro-
nesia, "almost 40 atolls ran out of water."

(25)

Investment: Recent years have seen a shift from disaster
response to disaster readiness and mitigation. Increasing
resilience means promoting preparedness. This is proving
to be one of the most critical challenges.

Preparedness: By positioning to reduce the impact of
disasters before they occur, unnecessary harm can be
averted and decades of developmental achievements pro-
tected. Reducing risks is at the heart of sustainable human
development – predict, prevent, prepare, protect! One
study found that for every dollar invested in pre-disaster
risk reduction activities in developing countries seven dol-
lars in losses can be prevented.

(28)

However, most donor

funding comes in response to appeals after major disasters,
making the shift from post-disaster recovery to pre-disas-
ter preparedness a compelling priority.

The Future: Raising resilience is a multi-tiered approach.
Pacific nations must implement development policies that
make sense for a range of climate change scenarios. These
include introducing salt-tolerant crops, increasing the avail-
ability of clean water, investing in coastal protection
through mangrove protection and reforestation, and en-
forcing a blanket ban on dynamite fishing. Educating chil-
dren about natural disasters and how to prepare for and
survive them is also essential in the Pacific region where 22
countries are strung out across 29 million square kilo-
metres of ocean. Finally, the fact that 98 percent of people
affected by climate disasters live in developing countries
highlights the link between levels of development and nat-
ural disaster risk.

(30)

PNG also needs the international

community to invest in the region's development.

FACTSHEET

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

“More intense and longer droughts

have been observed over wider
areas since the 1970s, particularly
in the tropics and subtropics.”

(29)

“By the 2050s,freshwater availability

in Central, South, East and South-
East Asia, particularly in large river
basins,is projected to decrease.”

(13)

“By mid-century, climate change is

expected to reduce water resources
in many small islands, e.g. in the ...
Pacific, to the point where they be-
come insufficient to meet demand
during low-rainfall periods.”

(13)

—Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,

Fourth Assessment Report 2007

Photo: P. Sitko

life

water

World Vision Capacity

7. The Footnotes

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Human Development Report
2007/2008. Papua New Guinea. {Source: UN (United Nations). 2007e. World
Population Prospects 1950-2050: The 2006 Revision. Database. Department of
Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. New York. Accessed July 2007.}

UNDP. Human Development Report 2007/2008. Papua New Guinea. {Source:
World Bank. 2007b. World Development Indicators 2007. CD-ROM. Wash., D.C.}

UNDP. Human Development Report 2007/2008. Papua New Guinea. {Source:
calculated on the basis of data on adult literacy rates from UNESCO (United Na-
tions Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) Institute for Statistics.
2007a. Adult and youth literacy rates.}

UNDP. Human Development Report 2007/2008. Papua New Guinea. {Source:
UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund). 2006. State of the World's Children
2007. New York. Data refers to most recent year available during period specified.}

UNDP. Human Development Report 2007/2008. Papua New Guinea. {Source:
UN (United Nations). 2006a. Millennium Development Goals Indicators Database.
Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Statistics Division. New York. [http://
mdgs.un.org]. Accessed May 2007, based on a joint effort by UNICEF and WHO.]}

UNDP. Human Development Report 2007/2008. Papua New Guinea. {Source:
WHO (World Health Organization). 2007a. Core Health Indicators 2007 Data-
base. Geneva. [http://www.who.int/whosis/database/]. Accessed July 2007. Data re-
fers to the most recent year available.}

UNDP. Human Development Report 2007/2008. Fighting climate change: Human
solidarity in a divided world. Published 2007. New York. USA.

The Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite index that measures the
average achievements in a country in three basic dimensions of human develop-
ment: a long and healthy life (measured by life expectancy at birth); knowledge
(measured by adult literacy rate and enrollment ratio for primary, secondary and
tertiary schools); and a decent standard of living (measured by GDP per capita in
purchasing power parity (PPP) US dollars). While the concept of human develop-
ment is much broader than any single composite index can measure, the HDI of-
fers a powerful alternative to income as a summary calculation measure of human
well-being and development. It is used to distinguish whether a country is a devel-
oped, developing, or under-developed country. The index was developed in 1990
by Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq and has been used since 1993 by the United
Nations Development Programme in its annual Human Development Report.

The Natural Disaster Index (NDI) is a composite index developed by Maplecroft.
The NDI measures the relative risk to human health from natural disasters. The
NDI incorporates the following types of natural disasters: hydro-meteorological di-
sasters (droughts, extreme temperatures, floods, slides, wildfires, and wind storms);
geological disasters (earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcano eruptions); biological di-
sasters (epidemics and insect infestations). To calculate the risk to human health
from natural disasters, the NDI analyses the following indicators: number of deaths;
number of people injured; number of people made homeless; number of people
otherwise affected. By using the indicators above, rather than the number of deaths
alone, the NDI renders a holistic perspective of the risks posed by natural disasters.

Data for the NDI has been obtained from two sources. First, natural disaster data
has been obtained from the EM-DAT International Disaster Database (2005). Second,
population and economic data comes from the World Development Indicators (2005),
compiled by the World Bank Group. A disaster must fulfill at least one of the follow-
ing criteria: 10 or more people reported killed (incl. 'persons confirmed dead and
persons missing/presumed dead'); 100 people reported affected ('requiring immedi-
ate assistance'); declaration of a state of emergency; call for international assistance.

Laurence Gray. World Vision Regional Advocacy Director for the Asia-Pacific re-
gion. Laurence_Gray@wvi.org

The EM-DAT International Disaster Database, Université Catholique de Louvain,
Brussels, Belgium [www.em-dat.net] is a joint project of the Centre for Research
on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) and USAID’s Office of Foreign Disaster
Assistance (OFDA). According to EM-DAT classification, natural disasters com-
prise droughts, earthquakes, epidemics, extreme temperatures, floods, insect infes-
tations, slides, volcanos, waves / surges, wild fires, and wind storms.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Fourth Assessment Report.
Climate Change 2007: Synthesis Report. Summary for Policymakers. Pages 10-12.
[Note: "Very high confidence" represents "at least a 9 out of 10 chance of being
correct." / "High confidence" represents "about a 8 out of 10 chance."]

Maplecroft Map Issue Report. Climate Change. Feb. 2007. Page 14.

Manam. http://www.mineral.gov.pg/volcObs/manam.htm

Cited on page 72 in

(7)

Brett Parris (PhD). Senior Economic Advisor, World Vision Australia. Abridged
from World Vision Australia's Policy Position on Climate Change. 2nd Edition.
3 Dec. 2007. Page 8.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Feb. 2007. Climate Change 2007.
The Physical Science Basis Summary for Policymakers. Fourth Assessment Report.

United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR). Press Release
dated January 29, 2007. www.unisdr.org

World Vision Policy Brief: Climate Change and Poverty. Nov. 2007.

World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Natural hazards.
http://www.wmo.ch/pages/themes/hazards/index_en.html

Pacific Islands drowning due to climate change. Greenpeace. 16 Aug. 2007.

Labutali village to be relocated inland. Bonnie Abola. The National Newspaper.
30 Jan. 2008. http://www.thenational.com.pg/

Carteret Islands sinking fast. The National/ Pacnews. 17 Oct. 2007.

Vanishing Islands. Tamari'i Tutangata describes how rising seas are already begin-
ning to overwhelm Pacific island nations.
http://www.unep.org/ourplanet/imgversn/103/06_van.htm

Cited on page 100 in

(7)

A Sinking Feeling. Samir S. Patel. Nature. Vol. 440. 6 Apr. 2006.

Cited on page 37 in

(7)

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). A report of Working Group
1 of the IPCC. Summary for Policymakers. Page 8.

Cited on pages 30 and 77 in

(7)

Cited on pages 253 and 371 in

(7)

Population using an improved water source (definition): “The share of the population with
reasonable access to any of the following types of water supply for drinking: household
connections, public standpipes, boreholes, protected dug wells, protected springs and rain-
water collection. Reasonable access is defined as the availability of at least 20 litres a
person per day from a source within one kilometre of the user’s dwelling. Unimproved
sources include vendors, bottled water, tanker trucks and unprotected wells and springs.”

The last tide could come at any time. Then these islands at the end of the Earth
will simply vanish. Times Online. Richard L. Parry. 21 Dec. 2006.

Lead Author: Johannes M. Luetz

Editorial Committee: Laurence Gray (World Vision Advocacy Director Asia Pacific
Regional Office), James East (World Vision Communications Director Asia Pacific),
Richard Rumsey (Regional World Vision Humanitarian & Emergency Affairs Direc-
tor, Asia Pacific), Elaine Tan (Communications Director World Vision Singapore).

Concept, Layout, Design: J. M. Luetz (future@jml-design.de)

Special Thanks: Temitope Adepoyibi, Tristan Clements, Gary Fagan, Brett Parris,
Jonathan Treagust, Rava Win (World Vision); Dawn Pauls.

FACTSHEET

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

asiapacific

fact sheets

One full-time Humanitarian & Emergency Affairs

manager

coordinates emergency responses across Papua New Guinea

7-8 Pacific Rapid Response Team

relief practitioners are being

trained and will be stationed in 3 Pacific offices, leading emergency
responses both in PNG and across the Asia-Pacific region

Early Warning System:

Plans are being developed to implement

an Early Warning System which will warn World Vision in PNG and
the Solomon and Vanuatu islands about threats and emergencies and
enhance communication with communities in disaster-prone areas

A two-year capacity-building programme

is being implemented

which will establish in-country disaster response and preparedness sys-
tems, structures and training to comply with international standards
(SPHERE, LEAP, Red Cross Code of Conduct, etc.)

Prepositioning:

Assessments are being made to preposition key

emergency relief items in storage sites across PNG and Oceania
[AusAID is investing in a prepositioning warehouse in Brisbane which
will store and dispatch World Vision relief items to support emergen-
cies in the Asia Pacific region]

Internal Partnerships:

World Vision PNG maintains support rela-

tionships with relief staff in other WV offices (Australia and New Zea-
land) to enhance rapid assistance in emergency response operations

External Coordination:

World Vision PNG coordinates with the

National Disaster Management Office, the United Nations Office for
the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and the Inter-Agency Stand-
ing Committee to strengthen networking relationships and interagency
coordination in times of emergencies