The United States (US) Government, in partnership with the Fiji Business Disas­ter Resilience Council and the Fiji Com­merce and Employers Federation launched a training programme yesterday in Savusavu that will help businesses better prepare for nat­ural disasters.

The training is part of the US Agency for Inter­national Development’s (USAID) climate ready project, which is strengthening the environmen­tal and disaster resilience of Pacific Island coun­tries.

The training was officially launched by US Em­bassy’s Regional Public Affairs officer Dimitri Tarakhovsky.

In his opening remarks, Mr Tarakhovsky said that resilient development required everyone across all sectors of the economy to work togeth­er to adapt existing infrastructure and social sys­tems to ensure that people are ready to manage the challenges ahead.

“The US government is pleased to work with Pacific Governments, the private sector, and civil society to address their most pressing develop­ment needs,” Mr Tarakhovsky said.

“One key component of USAID’s Climate Ready project is increasing Pacific Island countries’ ca­pacity to better prepare and respond to future climate-related disasters.

“Assessments undertaken by the Fiji Govern­ment after Tropical cyclone Winston estimated that there was around FJ$1.5 billion in private sector damage and losses during this event and a total personal income loss of over FJ$351.45 mil­lion due to the loss of days of work.

“The skills covered in this training will be criti­cal for small and medium enterprises to disaster proof their businesses against future disasters.”

Around 31 participants, including 17 women, participated in the one-day programmewhich in­formed them about the importance of business continuity planning, the role of first responders, and recovery after disasters.

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