A workshop is being conducted with the central aim of equipping community members to effectively anticipate and address future climate-related shocks and public health emergencies.

The workshop focuses on leveraging insights gained from community feedback and consultations during recent rollouts.

Fiji Council of Social Services Executive Director Vani Catanasiga says the project will enable communities to uplift their responsiveness towards the national systems.

Catanasiga adds that the workshop aims to tackle issues surrounding evacuation centers, ensuring that these critical facilities are equipped to effectively support communities during times of crisis.

“This is the last of our series of activities that we conducted on the project supported by UNICEF. It started last year when we were looking at community preparedness for health and disaster crises, and that was really looking at community feedback mechanisms, looking at the preparedness of communities, particularly when you consider issues like the evaluation centers on how ready to receive people who may be affected by disasters”.

Catanasiga says the outcomes of the workshop will be shared with the Natural Disaster Management office, enabling them to address any outstanding challenges.

“In fact, we are in discussion with the National Disaster Management Office about the presentation that will be done to them after the workshops because this workshop is aimed at addressing issues that may still need to be ironed up in terms of the technicality and operation of the community feedback mechanisms, which is what we are introducing through this.”.

Beyond immediate impact, the workshop serves as a valuable learning experience for communities as it equips them with essential tools and knowledge to navigate future crises arising from natural disasters.