The activities proposed hereafter are still subject to the adoption of the financing decision ECHO/WWO/ BUD/2013/01000
1 . CONTEXT
The Pacific region features among the most disaster prone regions in the world in terms of recurrence, severity and scope of hazards, with high exposure to cyclones, earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, tidal surges, landslides, flash floods, drought, forest fires, volcano eruptions, as well as epidemics. This is compounded by environmental degradation and climate change. Lack of economic diversity, remoteness from major trade and commercial sectors, weak governance frameworks, strong gender inequalities and widespread gender-based violence are factors which characterize many of the Pacific island nations and exacerbate their vulnerability to disasters. Although with a total population of some 10 million spread across the vast area of the Pacific Ocean the number of mortalities and people affected by a disaster can appear rather low in the usual disaster statistics, the Pacific countries rank among the highest in the number of casualties and people affected per 100,000.
