Disaster READY Fiji

Community members in Naqaravutu village, Fiji, were able to assist a shocked family who lost their home in a recent fire after participating in Psychological First Aid training through Empower Pacific, supported by AHP.

Many communities in Fiji have been hit hard by the economic fallout of COVID-19, and the second wave of cases in 2021 also restricted access to food and markets. With AHP support, Nabulini village has successfully grown their own vegetables, keeping healthy food on the menu during lockdowns.

Through the Australian Humanitarian Partnership’s COVID-19 response, Empower Pacific is supporting Fijians grappling with the economic, social and health repercussions of the global pandemic.

In Fiji, the Ketesa community primarily earned their incomes through selling woodcarvings to hotels and local retail outlets. But the pandemic closed the doors on international tourism. Through partner CAN DO, AHP has supported new ways forward for the community.

The Fiji Disabled Peoples Federation is playing a key role in ensuring a more inclusive COVID-19 humanitarian response.

With the support of Disaster READY, Field Ready has opened the Pacific region’s first humanitarian makerspace in Suva in 2019.

Disaster READY: In just two years the Fiji Council of Social Services has transformed from an organisation the government found difficult to work with, to an organisation the government actively turns to for support in times of disaster. Read how this change came about, and the role of our Disaster READY program in supporting a stronger Fijian civil society.

Disaster READY Fiji ran cash and voucher assistance trials in three Fijian communities. Community feedback will inform how cash and voucher assistance can be provided as part of future disaster response efforts in the country.