Johanniter starts follow-up project in Papua New Guinea & Indonesia

Already in 2009 the German Federal Foreign Office supported a project for training the vulnerable population of Papua in disaster preparedness and first aid. A follow-up-project with a similar aim began 15 July.

3.000 people will be trained in 18 months, but there will be some additional activities such as the establishment of: 15 collecting points, 15 emergency committees, 'Siaga teams', and simulation exercises in order to prepare the Siaga teams for their roles and responsibilities and the communities for natural hazards. The emergency committees are trained according to Sphere-standards. In the two weeks long training sessions they will develop their own strategies on how to cope with an emergency situation.

The project will take place in the coastal area west of Jayapura and on Yapen island, both not only prone to tsunamis, but also to earthquakes and floods. The project will be conducted in cooperation with Johanniter´s partner organization YAPMI and is again funded by the German Federal Foreign Office.