Preparedness in the Pacific Islands
PACIFIC PREPAREDNESS OVERVIEW
The World Food Programme (WFP), global lead of the Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC), is actively working on ETC preparedness activities in the Pacific Island region. In September 2015, WFP opened an office in Suva, Fiji, to support emergency preparedness in three sectors - Food Security, Logistics, and Emergency Telecommunications - across the Pacific Islands. On 30 November 2016, the Emergency Telecommunications Cluster for the Pacific was officially activated under the structure of the Pacific Humanitarian Team (PHT).
In 2016, WFP prioritised the following Pacific Island Countries for national engagement for ETC preparedness: Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu. In 2017, the ETC began expanding its engagement into North Pacific Island countries including the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Palau, Kiribati, and Tuvalu. Today, the ETC offers preparedness services in 14 Pacific Islands Countries, listed above under 'affected countries'.
Read more about ETC Global preparedness here and find out what ETC preparedness services are offered in the Pacific in the factsheet.
PREPAREDNESS RESOURCES
There are several preparedness resources available which have been developed for use by the ETC and its partners. These resources include:
- ICT Capacity Assessment (ICA) Guidance
- ITU-ETC Emergency Telecommunications Preparedness Checklist
- ITU-ETC Emergency Telecommunications Table-top Simulation Guide
- ETC Country Preparedness and Resilience Delivery Model
- Return on Investment (ROI) Model
CAPACITY BUILDING
The Pacific Waves Training Alliance was launched by the WFP-led ETC Pacific in February 2025 to strengthen emergency telecommunications response capabilities through training across the Pacific region. Below you can find links to each quarterly Pacific Waves Training Alliance Newsletter highlighting progress made in designing and delivering activity-based training modules, which are currently focused on mobile satellite and radio telecommunications systems.
Should you have any questions or require further information, please do not hesitate to contact the Pacific ETC team at PACIFIC.ETC@WFP.ORG
Overview
All ETC funding in the Pacific is received under the WFP Multi-Country Strategic Plan (MCSP). The budget available to the ETC in the Pacific to carry out preparedness and response activities are kindly supported by the USAID Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) and through multi-lateral pools channeled through WFP HQ.
