The Minister for Rural and Maritime Development, Sakiasi Ditoka, is leading a delegation from his Ministry and the Fiji National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) in Jakarta, Indonesia, for a week-long peer-to-peer exchange program. This initiative is part of the Trilateral Cooperation Programme involving the governments of Indonesia, Australia, and Fiji.
Organized by the Australia-Indonesia Partnership for Disaster Risk Management (SIAP SIAGA) on behalf of the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, the exchange aims to promote the sharing of knowledge and experiences on various topics. These include the establishment of the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre) and Indonesia’s Disaster Management System.
This peer-to-peer exchange aligns with one of the Ministry’s five Strategic Priority Areas (SPAs), which focuses on enhancing the coordination and facilitation of national disaster operations and disaster risk reduction. As the current chair of the Pacific Disaster Risk Management Ministers Meeting, Fiji values the opportunity to learn from Southeast Asian countries and their regional coordination mechanisms through the ASEAN Humanitarian Assistance Centre.
The inaugural Pacific Disaster Risk Management Ministers Meeting was supported in the recent 53rd Pacific Island Forum Leaders meeting in Tonga. The exchange program is currently in progress.