A Disaster SimEx (Simulation Exercise) will be held in the Western Division of Viti Levu on October 7-8^th.

The simulation will take place in five communities in close proximity to Nadi (Yavusani, Sikituru, and Narewa among others). The exercise will also be filmed by a filmmaker from NZ for documentary purposes.

Although participants from a variety of organizations will attend, we hope that Rotary will be well-represented. Any members from RC Suva East who are interested in attending should contact President Cameron or PP Warwick.

Rotary NZ delivers assistance to families hit by the 2009 floods in Nadi.

Background: In December 2012, the NZ government approved funding for a disaster preparedness project in three Pacific Island Countries: Vanuatu, Tonga and Fiji.

This project is being managed by a consortium of seven NZ-based NGOs: ADRA NZ, Caritas, CWS, Oxfam, Rotary New Zealand, TEAR Fund and UNICEF. ADRA NZ is the lead agency for the consortium.

The goal for this project is to reduce loss of life and economic/social impact (e.g. loss of property, resources and means of social/economic development) resulting from disasters in the Pacific Region. To achieve this goal, the key outputs are a disaster response simulation exercise held in each of the three target countries and a report that documents the learning and best practices identified through these exercises.

In each of the three target countries, project consortium members (as identified above) will partner with their in-country partners for active participation in the project. In addition, key stakeholders, such as the NDMO, Red Cross and UN agencies, will be provided the opportunity to also actively participate.

To implement the project, it is planned that two visits will be made to each country: one to meet with in-country partners and key stakeholders for consultation and planning purposes (referred to as a ‘scoping visit’), and a second visit to implement a training workshop designed to meet identified learning needs, followed by a disaster response simulation exercise programme (referred to as the SimEx programme).