4 September 2008

SASAMUGA, Solomon Islands – The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) have established the Joint Country Presence initiative to expand the agencies’ ability to respond to natural disaster crises and provide effective health care to women and children in the Pacific Islands.

The Joint Presence will allow for UNFPA, UNDP or UNICEF to act on behalf of all three organizations within a given Pacific country. As a result, the three agencies will maintain a presence in a total of 23 Pacific countries.

“The recent tsunami crisis in the Solomon Islands was a wake-up call for everyone,” says Najib Assifi, the UNFPA Director and Representative for the Pacific Sub-Regional Office. Because many Pacific Island countries are small and only barely above sea-level, they are extremely vulnerable to tidal waves, typhoons, earthquakes and volcanoes that can wipe out entire communities. When a crisis strikes, limited access to health facilities can be a major contributor to maternal death.

The Joint Country Presence aims to harmonize the programmes of the three agencies in an effort to minimize duplication of effort and promote greater coordination. “We are bringing in key stakeholders from around the region to create a stronger knowledge and understanding of what it takes to be prepared for emergencies,” says Mr. Assifi. “But these are stepping stones and there is still a lot of work ahead of us.”