Republic of the Marshall Islands disaster management reference handbook 2022

This Handbook focuses on RMI’s disaster management framework and partnerships, and it highlights disaster risk reduction strategies and plans. It also provides an overview of the country’s government, geography, demographics, social cultural practices, history of natural disasters, and the current state of its disaster risk and response management. RMI faces significant hazard threats from tropical storms, drought, and inundation; however, more critically, it faces an existential threat from climate change and sea level rise. 

The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) is already one of the world’s countries most vulnerable to natural hazards, and climate change poses a serious threat to the islands over the short, medium, and long terms. For these reasons, RMI’s government and people have increased efforts to bolster all-hazards preparedness. In its National Strategic Plan 2020-2030, RMI frankly confronts the stark choice that climate change-influenced hazards are forcing on the country: relocate or implement adaptation options.