The Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa and Tokelau are small Pacific Island states which sit within the Cyclone Belt of the Pacific Region and face threats of tropical cyclones annually during the 'cyclone season' which covers the period from October to April. During this season UNDP provides support to the 4 governments in the form of humanitarian assistance and coordination, early recovery and resource mobilization efforts. Due to the advent of climate change both the frequency and intensity of tropical cyclones has been seen. Therefore, the Multi-Country Office's (MCOs) support has been geared to building resilience at the community levels through training and climate change adaptation measures. Other natural; disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis remain at a high risk level and the MCO has played a pivotal role in supporting the UN humanitarian response system in close collaboration with the Pacific Humanitarian Team (PHT), OCHA and others to ensure timely and effective responses to the needs. This was seen most recently in the Samoa tsunami disaster in September 2010. |