When Australia’s foreign minister, Julie Bishop, welcomed her counterparts for the Pacific Islands Forum Foreign Ministers Meeting late last week, improving responses to disasters in the region was top of the agenda.
“Over the next two days, foreign ministers from Pacific island countries will discuss how we can strengthen our coordination and improve how we prepare for and manage natural disasters in this region,” Bishop said. “We will focus on practical ways to achieve this, including harnessing the private sector and improving the role of women in responding to natural disasters.”
In a statement released following the two-day meeting, Bishop said the countries present had “committed to strengthening a pool of Pacific-based disaster management experts in the region to assist with nationally led planning and response efforts.”
About the author
Lisa Cornish@lisa_cornish
Lisa Cornish is a freelance data journalist based in Canberra, Australia. Lisa formerly worked with News Corp Australia as a data journalist for the national network and was published throughout Australia in major metropolitan and regional newspapers, including the Daily Telegraph in Melbourne, Herald Sun in Melbourne, Courier-Mail in Brisbane and online through news.com.au. Lisa has recently been awarded the 2014 Journalist of the Year by the New South Wales Institute of Surveyors.