Over 40 Provincial Disaster Coordinators and National Disaster Officers from throughout the country converged in Port Moresby to share experiences, learn, review and update the current Disaster Needs Assessment tool on 3 October 2022.

The week-long Disaster Needs Assessment Workshop saw participants discuss methods for collecting information related to disasters and emergencies, checking accuracy and the best ways to disseminate. This would then strengthen and standardise initial needs assessments that are conducted at the provincial level following disasters.

UNDP Humanitarian Coordination Officer, Mr Lindsay Lambi said it is a real privilege to have Provincial Disaster Coordinators, Disaster Operations officers and National Disaster Centre officers all in one room discussing disaster needs assessment tools and how to better implement an assessment.

“To coordinate a humanitarian response in a complex and challenging operating environment such as Papua New Guinea, requires efficient assessments of impacts of a disaster event to inform an effective response plan. This workshop contributes to refining these assessment skills and preparing these officers to deploy disaster needs assessments in their respective provinces,” said Mr Lambi.

Throughout the week the participants delved into the Papua New Guinea assessment framework and the Disaster Needs Analysis tools, assessment planning, working with primary and secondary data and assessment planning.