Cabinet has approved the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Government and the Pacific Community (SPC) for phase two of the European Union Building Safety and Resilience in the Pacific Project (BSRP).
Speaking on the matter, Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka said the program is a funded project that aims to reduce the impacts of disasters, including those related to climate change, in African, Caribbean and Pacific countries.
Rabuka said the program is a direct response to the priorities of ACP Countries and the EU, identified under the 2009 EU Strategy for Supporting Disaster Risk Reduction in developing countries.
He said the program has been implemented by SPC and targets 14 Pacific Island Countries, including Timor-Leste.
The first iteration of the BSRP Phase 1 Project ran from 2016 to 2019 and provided funding support for the implementation of critical disaster risk management and climate change adaptation projects in Fiji.
Projects under Phase Two include:
• the upgrading of seismic monitoring equipment for the Mineral Resources Department;
• the establishment of a centralised disaster risk database for the NDMO;
• the continued upgrading of divisional and district EOCs; and
• the strengthening of governance and collaboration systems for Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems.
The total funding for the project is $1.7 million, and is expected to be completed by 2026.
