Press Release – femLINKPACIFIC

FemLINKPacific which coordinates a rural community media network is calling for gender inclusive preventive measures during Fiji’s cyclone season:Tuesday 11 December, 2012

FemLINKPacific which coordinates a rural community media network is calling for gender inclusive preventive measures during Fiji’s cyclone season:

Based on the experiences of our rural network including a Gender and DRM plan presented to the Divisional Planning Officer (West) in April this year we hope that the National Disaster Management Office as well as provincial and district level officers are provided with the required resources to ensure:

a) proactive engagement with women in preparing disaster risk reduction and management strategies especially as women are at the centre of all planning and disaster management actvities from the household to community level;

b) proactive planning to ensure evacuation centres are opened early and communities assisted to access centres particularly for flood prone communities many of whom are still recovering from the floods earlier this year;

c) all disaster risk reduction and management strategies are inclusive of persons with disabilities, women and children, the elderly and are safe for all communities;

d)Food security plans should be put in place now and promoted to ensure all vulnerable groups in particular child, the elderly and persons who rely on specific medication/dietary needs will have access to nutritious meals should they be required to evacuate; efforts must be made to ensure food garden nurseries etc are well protected during the cyclone season

e)All evacuation supplies should include basic necessities for babies, the elderly and persons with disabilities including underwear and sanitary and SRHR commodities.

Additionally as communities need to access information in a way in which they can decipher technical and weather information which should be provided on a regular basis especially on radio and TV.

ENDS

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