drought

The provision of tanks was made possible with support from the €19.36 million (US$21.12 million) European Union Building Safety and Resilience in the Pacific (BSRP) project which is implemented by the Pacific Community (SPC).

These tanks will be installed in temporary roadside locations filled by the National Disaster Management Office throughout the Christmas season to ensure the most severely affected areas can access clean and safe drinking water, which is critical to human health.

The Island Climate Update, compiled by New Zealand's NIWA with other meteorological agencies and the Pacific Regional Environment Programmme, says each of those countries has experienced significantly lower than expected rain levels in the past five to six months.

World Vision's Dominica Leonard was in Tanna Island last month.

She says Tanna is facing a bleak time.

Leonard says initially crops were destroyed by the cyclone while subsequent plantings have been stymied by a lack of water and rock hard ground caused by the drought.

The centre's Vincent Lebot says it has come up with about 50 improved varieties of sweet potatoes that can be cultivated during the dry season and in poor soil condition.

Australia's foreign minister has announced financial assistance to Pacific countries struggling with drought brought on by this year's severe El Niño.

Julie Bishop yesterday toured areas of Papua New Guinea's Highlands with foreign minister Rimbink Pato.

The PNG government estimates a million people in the Highlands are in a state of distress as a result of months of severe drought and frosts, which has killed crops and dried up water supplies.

This comes after up to six months of well below normal rainfall had been received.

The forecast from New Zealand's NIWA and the Pacific Islands Meteorological Services says in Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu, after three months of very dry conditions, below normal rainfall can be expected through to the end of the year.

And it says New Caledonia can expect the below drier condition of recent months to continue through October to December.

It says countries in the central Pacific, such as Tuvalu and Kiribati, can expect little water stress in the next few months.

Much of the Highlands region has been affected by drought and frost which have destroyed food gardens.

The PNG Government started rolling out food aid several weeks ago but the Chimbu Governor Noah Kool says it is not enough.

He says Port Moresby has to under a proper assessment of the number of people affected and the help they will need for a drought expected to extend into 2016.

The drought is adding to the devastation caused by Cyclone Pam six months ago, with people in some parts forced to forage for food in the bush.

Dr Jacob Kool from the World Health Organisation's office in Vanuatu said the girl from Tanna Island died from severe diarrhoea, which may have been caused by contaminated water or inedible food.

"There is a severe food shortage on the island," he said.

"People have been eating unusual food crops which they don't normally eat.

"Some people say diarrhoea is caused by that.

The UN resident coordinator in Fiji, Osnat Lubrani, says it is expected to rival the 1997 El Nino which is the most severe on record.

Ms Lubrani says drought problems currently being experienced around parts of the region are just the beginning.

She says governments need to start raising awareness in communities and preparing national emergency plans.

The UN's Resident Coordinator, Osnat Lubrani, says communities and governments need to prepare now for the extreme weather changes El Niño usually triggers.

He says some countries are already implementing or drafting drought plans and the UN is ready to help co-ordinate this and to provide technical advice.

Over the coming months, countries on the equator can expect more rain, flooding and higher sea levels, presenting challenges for low-lying atolls already feeling the impacts of climate change.