Mozambique has taken firm steps to develop, increase, and enhance national collaboration for disaster risk reduction (DRR), with success particularly in disaster response for the protection of human lives. Over the past decade, the Government of Mozambique has also tried to work towards reducing vulnerability and disaster risk in the long term through research, consultation, [...]
I have just completed my Watson Fellowship and here is a personal reflection I wrote.
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A few months ago, I wrote of the frustrations of international aid and development in India. Ever since then, my disappointment and anger in development has grown. Over this year, I have seen how hundreds have found answers to the challenges [...]
A brief note to link to a summary of the side event I presented during the climate negotiations in Bonn, Germany on June 5th, 2008. The presentation highlighted lessons from the field demonstrating how community-based adaptation can contribute to the Bali Action Plan.
SustainUS organized the side event and offered the opportunity to present. You can [...]
The typhoon season is technically over in South East Asia, which gives us some time to start thinking over what has happened over the past few months. A lot was learnt during 2007 in the disaster management and disaster risk reduction field. Some events showed us that we are improving in how we respond to [...]
Extreme weather events in Vietnam have become so common, that some people now see them as normal. Recently, typhoon Lekima struck central Vietnam causing major damage to communities in Ha Tinh, Nghe An, Quang Binh, Thanh Hoan, and Ninh Binh. I arrived in Vietnam a week after Lekima, a little nervous to know how Vietnamese [...]
Global agreements, such as the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Agenda 21, have recognized the uniqueness of the climate change challenges faced by small islands developing states, such as the Fiji Islands. But this awareness does not seem to translate in concrete policy measures on the ground—even in the countries that lobby [...]
The Locally-Managed Marine Areas Network (LMMA) has been the most
successful model for conservation and coastal management in South East
Asia and the South Pacific. In Fiji, the LMMA model has been successfully
replicated in over a 100 golingolis (coastal management units), and communities have started to educate other communities as they become
trainers of the model. One of [...]
Workshops, organized by international organizations, NGOs, or governments, come with the tides here in the South Pacific. It seems like there are workshops on every imaginable topic, from traditional knowledge management to capacity building for conservation. Disaster preparedness and related issues do not escape the workshop fever.
But, what do these workshop deliver? Everyone seems to [...]
Although most people relate Fiji to pristine, exotic, and striking beaches, reefs, and mountains, biodiversity conservation and management is a fresh concept in the mind of Fijians. Most of Fiji is owned by the Fijians, not by the government. Fiji’s land is managed by Native Land Trust Board, which manages land development. During the early [...]
Next Monday, I will start working for the United Nations Development Programme Multi-Country Office in Fiji, which serves Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Tonga, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Nauru, Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, and Marshals Islands. I will be working for the Environment and
Energy Unit developing a capacity map for the South Pacific, particularly Fiji, for the [...]