Samoa national action plan for disaster risk management 2017-2021
The Samoa National Action Plan (NAP) for Disaster Risk Management is an operational document that should be read in conjunction with the National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP) 2017-2020. The NAP also provides a day-to-day guide for operations and a monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) framework to assess performance and advance accountability of the Disaster Management Office (DMO).
Strategically, the outcomes and outputs articulated in the NAP align to the National Strategy for the Development of Samoa (SDS), the National Environment Sector Plan (NESP) and are reflective of Samoa’s Disaster and Emergency Management Act (2007). The NAP reflects global and regional priorities articulated in the following agreements: Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR), Samoa Pathway Agreement and the United Nations, Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). In addition, the NAP is further informed by lessons learned from the 2009 tsunami and 2012 Tropical Cyclone Evan operations. Both of these disasters highlighted Samoa’s strengths in relation to DRM, as well as operational challenges in need of further attention
The NAP highlights the imperative to mainstream DRM across all sectors. In this way, risk considerations are continually factored into planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Mainstreaming DRM seeks to share responsibilities for decision-making with key stakeholders from government, civil society, communities, the private sector and development partners. Challenges related to DRM can be met only through coordinated and sustained collaboration with the aforementioned stakeholders.