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Samoa National Action Plan for Disaster Risk Management 2017-2021

Pays
Samoa
Sources
Govt. Samoa
Date de publication
Origine
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1. Introduction

Samoa is a country at risk of disasters. Its geographic location and volcanic origins leads to both incredible natural beauty, and a susceptibility to natural hazards such as earthquake, tsunami and cyclone. Human induced hazards are also an inevitable threat for this small island developing state (SIDS).

The Samoa National Action Plan (NAP) for Disaster Risk Management is an operational document that should be read in conjunction with the National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP) 2017-2020. The NAP also provides a day-to-day guide for operations and a monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) framework to assess performance and advance accountability of the Disaster Management Office (DMO).

The NAP is informed by a review of the former NDMP (2011-15) and the DRM NAP 2011-2016 and feedback from consultations with DMO staff, and other relevant stakeholders, including representatives of the Ministry of National Resources and Environment (MNRE). Development of the NAP was initiated in 2016 commencing with a review of the previous NAP to identify gaps in implementation.

Strategically the outcomes and outputs articulated in the NAP align to the National Strategy for the Development of Samoa (SDS), the National Environment Sector Plan (NESP) and are reflective of Samoa’s Disaster and Emergency Management Act (2007). The NAP reflects global and regional priorities articulated in the following agreements: Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR), Samoa Pathway Agreement and the United Nations, Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). In addition, the NAP is further informed by lessons learned from the 2009 tsunami and 2012 Tropical Cyclone Evan operations. Both of these disasters highlighted Samoa’s strengths in relation to DRM, as well as operational challenges in need of further attention.

The NAP highlights the imperative to mainstream DRM across all sectors. Currently there are 14 sectors as follows: Education; Health; Community; Law and Justice; Public sector; Finance; Trade and Commerce; Tourism; Agriculture; Transport; Communications; Water; Energy; Environment. The NAP addresses all stages of DRM with a focus on mainstreaming at the sector level. In this way, risk considerations are continually factored into planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Mainstreaming DRM seeks to share responsibilities for decision-making with key stakeholders from government, civil society, communities, the private sector and development partners. It is only through coordinated and sustained collaboration with the aforementioned stakeholders, that challenges related to DRM can be met.