ACMC has supported a major Table Top exercise in Tarawa, Kiribati, which aimed to strengthen emergency preparedness and response.
The two day TTX involved working groups led by members from the Kiribati National Disaster Management Office and other Kiribati ministries. ACMC Assistant Director Lessons, Rob Graham facilitated working group discussions, along with members of the ADF, DFAT and AFP, New Zealand MFAT and NZDF. NGOs participation included UNOCHA, World Health Organisation, World Food Program and UNICEF.
The exercise, conducted in late July as part of EX LONGREACH, identified a development path for National Emergency Operations Centre Standard Operating Procedures and other areas for improvement, including community engagement, information sharing and responder training.
Exercise LONGREACH is a series of activities conducted by Joint Task Force (JTF) 637 as a Whole of Australian Government and NGO cooperative approach to build Pacific Island partner nations’ capacity to prepare for major disasters and emergencies, through enhanced planning and civil-military-police interoperability. Previously there have been bilateral and multi-lateral events with Fiji, Timor-Leste, Tuvalu, New Caledonia, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. Later this year, ACMC is planning to support LONGREACH activities scheduled with Papua New Guinea and Tonga.
