As Japan is battered by the devastating Typhon Hagibis, Save the Children has called for more action to counter climate change as it prepares to conduct a disaster-readiness exercise in Fiji next week.
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The exercise will focus on the Cash Voucher Assistance initiative, which is funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and enables people affected by a crisis to receive money or vouchers, so they can buy local goods from local markets and meet their most urgent needs.
The leading child rights organisation said the initiative was discussed by Prime Minister Scott Morrison last week when he visited Fiji and if the exercise goes well it will be rolled out across the Pacific nations where it operates.
But Save the Children is warning that climate change must be addressed to reduce the threat to lives and livelihoods in the region.
Save the Children Australia CEO, Paul Ronalds said the frequency and intensity of cyclones in the Pacific will continue to increase if more is not done to address climate change.
"The impact of climate change is already well and truly being felt in the Pacific," Mr Ronalds said in a statement on Sunday.
"Save the Children is doing what we can to help children and their communities prepare for a fierce cyclone season, but unless drastic action is taken the situation will only deteriorate further."
Australian Associated Press
