The Government of Japan and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have given the Vanuatu Government equipment, which can be deployed for rebuilding community infrastructure for people relocating to surrounding islands following natural disasters
The equipment includes hand and power tools for about 500 workers and associated protective gear.
The workers can be mobilized to undertake rehabilitation of community infrastructure or activities such as debris removal and solid waste management. The equipment will also be used to support basic carpentry training for youths.
The equipment will be instrumental in strengthening the Government of Vanuatu’s ability to support the Ambae population’s resettlement as well as the broader objective to prepare, respond and recover faster from disasters, especially in the light of lessons learned from tropical cyclones, and the eruption of the Ambae volcano that affected the country recently.
The kit will be distributed and used across the country, mainly to support the rehabilitation of the Ambae community. It was made available through a project implemented by UNDP’s crisis bureau, titled ‘Enhancing Preparedness Capacity for Immediate Crisis Response and Early Recovery in Crisis Countries.’
The project has strengthened the preparedness and response capacity of several countries across the world, by providing concrete emergency preparedness tools, as well as carpentry training to hundreds of youth.
Photo supplied Caption: UNDP Rep, Japanese govt rep and NDMO rep with the power tools