DATE / TIME:

2017•03•21    15:30 - 17:00

Location:

Honolulu

Planning for climate change related disasters also strengthens preparedness for a variety of other emergencies to include disease/health outbreaks as in the case of the recent Ebola outbreak and Zika virus.  Developing regional planning and response mechanisms enables individual nations to strengthen capacities internally while providing opportunities for regional collaboration to support mitigation, adaptation and response to disasters.

UNU-IIGH Postdoctoral Fellow, Dr Natasha Kuruppu will be chairing a session organised on the March 21, 2017 at 3.30pm-5pm, titled: Disaster Preparedness and Climate Change Adaptation for Human Health in the Pacific Islands: Lessons Learned and Pathways Forward. This panel session will highlight the role of disaster preparedness in climate change adaptation programs and will site lessons learned from evidenced based programs in the Pacific Islands, with a particular focus on human health.  Additionally, it will discuss the types of new knowledge systems, including Indigenous and local knowledge, required if we are to strengthen disaster management and climate adaptation for human health.  Participants will engage in an interactive discussion session designed to explore opportunities for collaboration at the regional level while exchanging best practices to improve policies, financing systems and humanitarian actions. The goal is to develop a set of recommendations towards strengthening climate adaptation, disaster risk mitigation, emergency preparedness and management to reduce current and future health vulnerabilities in Oceania.

Click here for more details on PRIMO Annual 2017 Conference: Navigating Towards Security and Sustainability.