PCRAFI Country Note Vanuatu

Vanuatu is susceptible to a variety of both
hydrometeorological and geophysical disasters due
to its location in the South Pacific tropical cyclone
basin and the Pacific Ring of Fire./// Hydrometeorological
hazards include tropical cyclones, floods, and droughts,
whereas geophysical hazards include volcanoes,
earthquakes, and resulting tsunamis and landslides.
///Sixty-three percent of recorded disasters in Vanuatu
have occurred in the provinces of Malampa and
Torba, where over a quarter of the population
resides (SPC-SOPAC 2011)./// The rural population is
largely dependent on subsistence agriculture, which is
adversely affected by natural disasters. According to
the latest national census, the population of Vanuatu is
estimated to be 234,023, with 80 percent of residents
living in rural areas that are spread across 80 islands in six
provinces—Malampa, Penama, A number of options to improve DRFI in the future
are presented for consideration in this note:

(a) develop an integrated disaster risk financing and
insurance strategy;

(b) develop a post-disaster budget execution manual to
minimize the loss of institutional knowledge should
personnel leave DoFT; and

(c) explore the use of contingent credit