Papua New Guinea Humanitarian Background Additional Information
Natural Disasters Other Comments
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Climate change is projected to impact heavily on agriculture, forestry and fisheries in the Pacific
islands, leading to increased food insecurity and malnutrition (FAO)
Disaster risks in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea is prone to numerous natural hazards including earthquakes, volcanic eruptions,
tsunami, drought, floods, tropical cyclones, landslides, the impact of climatic change and climate
variability and sea level rise.
PNG is ranked within the top 6 countries having the highest percentage of population exposed to
earthquake hazard, as well as having one of the highest total populations exposed to earthquake in
the Asia-Pacific region. PNG also ranked close behind the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vanuatu in
having the highest percentage of population exposed to severe volcanic risks.
In addition, there is high risk of technological and human-caused disasters from oil spill, industrial
pollution, unregulated and destructive land use practices and infrastructural development, as well as
a rapid growth in population. Societal crisis such as civil unrest and HIV/AIDS have also made their
presence known in Papua New Guinea. Many parts of PNG have a history of inter-community
violence (tribal fighting) which remains common particularly in highlands provinces.
Disasters in PNG vary in speed, extent and level of impact. Natural disasters range from widespread
slow onset events such as drought, which may affect the health and livelihoods of many but
ultimately result in few deaths; to floods and cyclones that may have a sudden, high impact on the
health and livelihoods of communities. The country has numerous small scale emergencies each year
as a result of violent inter-community conflict (tribal fights), storms and disease outbreaks, which
usually affect small numbers of people
In PNG natural disasters have consistently affected key sectors of the economy such as agriculture,
infrastructure and community livelihoods. In the period between 1997- 2002, 63 major calamities
were reported in PNG that affected 4.1 million people. Over the past 25 years, the country has had
508 earthquake-related fatalities, 9 deaths from volcanic eruptions, 3,210 from tsunami/wave
surges, 47 from cyclones, 58 from flooding, 314 from landslides, and 98 from drought.
The social and economic ramifications of these many hazards is multiplied when overlaid with the
high levels of vulnerability of people due to the lack of infrastructure, low human development
indicators, and a high population growth rate. The highlands, with 2.2 million people, are subject to
weather extremes of heavy rainfall and drought.
Increasingly, landslides are occurring from population pressures on uncontrolled land use. The
coastal areas and the many coral atolls are low-lying and nearly 500,000 people in 2,000 coastal
villages are vulnerable to weather extremes and inundation. Over 80 percent of the population live
in a rural environment and are susceptible to extremes of climate (rains and drought) related to the
El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO).
Scientific evidence suggest that frequency and intensity of El Niño events has increased over the last
50 years and a major El Niño event may result in severe drought conditions in most parts of PNG.
Climate change is also likely to exacerbate the risk of natural hazards by causing extreme weather
events more frequently and sea-level rise to magnify the impact of storm surges and waves on
coastal areas.
The northern portion of New Guinea mainland and the islands are vulnerable to volcanoes, tsunami,
coastal flooding, landslides, earthquake and rising sea level.
Similarly, with the Highlands interior and other upland areas of the country, frost, hailstorms,
drought, bush-fires, and landslides are frequent.
However, just as flooding and drought conditions are experienced in the entire New Guinea Islands,
tropical cyclones are also common along the southern and the far eastern coastal and islands region
of Papua New Guinea. On the other hand, human caused disasters maybe categorized under
technological, industrial and biological hazards.
Disaster risk reduction and disaster management planning and implementation have been impeded
by resource constraints, a serious lack of capacity in the 20 provinces and their respective
communities, and lack of a trained cadre of skilled disaster managers. The country’s vulnerability is
made worse by incomplete hazard information, shortage of models of good practice, lack of strong
legislative framework, and shortcomings of early warning arrangements and communication
systems.
At the national level, the development of an integrated framework will involve a whole- ofgovernment approach to disaster risk reduction and disaster management with key agencies
coordinating closely with local, provincial, national, regional and international stakeholders.
Strengthening national legislative and regulatory frameworks will be necessary. Applicable and
affordable models of best practices will need to be developed and adopted to support disaster risk
reduction and disaster management.
At the local level, partnerships between Government, Provincial Administrations, community groups
and civil society will be necessary to support and enhance the resilience and management capacity
of local communities.
The National DM Agencies
The National Disaster Centre (NDC) within the Department of Provincial and Local Government
Affairs was established by an Act of Parliament to coordinate rapid responses to the impacts of
natural disasters.
However, the NDC is not fully effective within the government and lacks sufficient budget, human
resources and government backing. The NDC has embraced the principles of disaster management
through Disaster Management Cycle where it spells out the importance of (i) before disaster, (ii)
during disaster and (iii) post disaster management. That was why PNG Mitigation Policy was
established in later 2003.
The NDC is the implementing arm of the National Disaster Committee. While the NDC is tasked with
coordinating all disaster related activities, in reality the budget, human resources and government
commitment to this center are insufficient to undertake risk reduction activities.
Members of the National Disaster Committee include the Commander of the Department of
Defense, the Police Commissioner and the department heads for Finance, Defense, Works and
Supply, Health, Foreign Affairs, and Trade and Provincial and Local Governments
The existing Emergency and Disaster Management arrangements of Papua New Guinea are as
outlined below:
The Disaster Management Act 1984 (revised 1987) provides the mandate for the Centre through the
National Disaster Committee. The “National Disaster Centre” (NDC) is established under the Disaster
Management Act and the National Disaster Committee.
The Centre acts as the executive arm of the National Disaster Committee and is responsible for
carrying out its day-to-day responsibilities. The Minister for Inter- Government Relations and
Ministry of Provincial and Local Government Affairs is the responsible government ministry directly
responsible for disaster management in Papua New Guinea.
The DM act is being reviewed to strengthen collaboration and coordination across Government and
with Provincial, District and Local levels as well as with partners and other stakeholders with a view
to greater efficiency and electiveness in relation to all phases of the DRM cycle: prevention,
mitigation, preparedness, response, relief, recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction.
The National Disaster Committee – Membership & Role
The National Disaster Committee is made up Departmental heads of various government
departments including; Health, Works, Defense, Police, Foreign Affairs, National Planning, DAL and
Donor and NGO reps. The Committee’s responsibilities as stipulated in the Act are to:
•
Supervise the national state of preparedness for emergencies and disasters and report on it
to the National Executive Council;
• Maintain the National Emergency Plan;
• Assign responsibilities for disaster related activities to Departments and other bodies;
• Advise NEC if assistance required;
• Lay down guidelines for the preparation and format of provincial disaster plans;
• Approve grants;
• Foster public awareness of the effects of natural hazards & measures which can be taken to
reduce their effects;
• Supervise establishment of stockpiles of relief supplies; and
• Advise the National Executive Council of all the circumstances and on the advisability of
declaring a National Emergency.
The National Disaster Centre is responsible for providing secretariat support to the Committee and
coordinate with the above departments and agencies in mitigating the effects and impacts of disasters
in Papua New Guinea.
Role of the National Disaster Centre
The National Disaster Centre was established by an Act of Parliament to manage and coordinate all
disasters and emergencies in Papua New Guinea. The office is headed by Director General, who is
appointed by the National Executive Council (NEC).
There are two divisions that made up the centre. Risk Management Division is responsible for
preparedness and mitigation of disasters and emergencies, and the Government & Community
Liaison is responsible for corporate affairs as well as deals with disaster response and emergencies in
the country. Each of the division is headed by an Assistant Director.
The responsibilities of the National Disaster Centre as stipulated in the Act are to:
•
Advice National Disaster Committee on all disaster management and disaster risk
management matters ;
• Coordinate national relief efforts;
• Act as the secretariat to National Disaster Committee and its subcommittees;
• Maintain a network of disaster management liaison officers;
• Report annually to National Disaster Committee on its activities;
• Provide advice and support for Provincial Disaster Committees;
• Assist with disaster management training for all levels and sectors when appropriate;
• Implement policies and decisions of National Disaster Committee.
Responses to emergencies or disasters roles lie with each respective Provincial Authorities. Both the
National Disaster Centre (NDC) and the Provincial Disaster Committees have the primary
responsibility for implementing and coordinating the disaster counter measure activities before, during
and after disaster and emergency situations.
The Provincial Disaster Committees – Membership & Role
The draft National Framework for action cites a lack of capacity for disaster management at provincial
level. The draft Framework also mentions plans to integrate DRM into provincial level planning and
budgeting and include disaster risk assessments into investment decisions at the community level.
The NDM Act provides for the establishment of Provincial Disaster Committees which should be
responsible for preparing emergency plans for the provinces and coordinate relief operations.
According to the World Bank assessment, only four of the 19 provinces have operational disaster
management arrangements. While there is reasonable awareness among provinces, there is an
extreme shortfall in resources to implement disaster risk management activities at the sub-national
level, and focus is solely on response rather than preparedness or mitigation. As well as a lack of
budgetary resources, there is a lack of human resource capacity to create sub-national disaster action
plans.
The Provincial Disaster Committees are established by Section 9 of the DM Act of 1987.
The membership is comprised of the:
•
•
•
•
Head of the Provincial Administration or in case of NCD, Manager of the National Capital
District Commission as Chairman;
Provincial Police Commander or in case of NCD, Commander NCD/Central;
Provincial Works Manager or in case of NCD, City Engineer;
Provincial Health Advisor (Officer) or in case of NCD, Health Officer;
• Officer-In -Charge of Provincial Affairs;
• Officer-In-Charge of Delegated Functions; and
• NGOs rep and other co-opted Members
The provincial Disaster Coordinator is the secretariat to the Provincial Disaster Committee (PDC).
Provincial Disaster Coordinator is the secretariat to the Provincial Disaster Committee (PDC).
The basic roles and functions of the Provincial Disaster Committees are to:
• Provide and render advice to the Provincial Executive Council (PEC) through the Governor in
ensuring that development plans for the province take into account hazards prone to the Province;
• Conduct assessments on particular hazards prone or common in the province;
• Prepare contingency plans for respective hazards and supervise the state of preparedness for
emergencies in the Province;
• Foster public awareness on natural phenomena and mitigation measures; and organize training of
relief workers in the province.
The National Disaster Management Plan
The National Disaster Centre has in place a Disaster Management Plan since 1987. However, this
Plan is currently under review and is expected to be completed and endorsed by the Government in
2009. The responsibility for Programming and Projects Planning to reflect the aims and the objectives
of the National Disaster Management Plan is vested on the National Disaster Committee (NDC).
The National Disaster Management Plan provides guidance and direction for disaster management
activities for all stakeholders and partners throughout the country, including all levels and sectors,
both government and non-government. The plan has an aim, objectives and outlines the roles and
responsibilities for various government levels, departments, agencies, authorities and communities. It
encourages self –reliance, as it is one of the greatest assets in coping with the threat of disasters.
The plan and Act complement each other, and they have other supporting documents such as the
Mitigation Policy, Five Year Cooperate Plan, Supporting Work plans, Standard Operating Procedures,
and National and Provincial Response Plans, and the PNG Disaster Risk Reduction and Disaster
Management National Framework for Action 2005—2015.
Structure and Functions
The National Executive Council (NEC) comprising of members of the National Parliament makes final
decisions for any disaster policy matters. The National Executive Council is guided by the National
Disaster Committee, which comprises of heads of key National Government agencies who are vested
with additional responsibility of Disaster Management.
Such departments include; Provincial & Local Government Affairs, Finance, Health, Works, National
Planning, Foreign Affairs, Defense, Police, Red-Cross and Prime Minister and National Executive
Council. The Chairman of the committee is the head of Department of Provincial & Local Government
Affairs.
This committee is the decision making body of any emergency or disaster matters. When there is a
matter concerning other departments, NGO’s or churches they are co-opted. The PNG Disaster
Management Act also allows the other Departmental Heads, NGOs and the national Churches as Coopt members.
The Foreign Missions are represented by UNDP. Adhoc sub-committees are formed for the purpose
of mitigating the disaster at hand e.g. Water Sub-Committee to advise on water matters and the
Awareness & Preparedness Committee to advise on the type of information to be disseminated to the
public on how best to avoid heavy impacts of disasters, Disaster Education & Training Committee to
advise on disaster training.
Membership is comprised of technical and specialized government and non-government officers in
the disaster related fields. Similar arrangements are made at the provincial level with the Provincial
Disaster Committee (PDC) except that instead of the Secretaries of the departments, the advisors or
managers of the line departments become members of the Provincial Disaster Committees.
Sub-committees or working groups are established for the special occasions or purposes, e.g. when a
disaster occurs, and these are abolished when the purpose for which they were instigated does no
longer exist. The National Disaster Awareness and Preparedness Committee, however, was formed
in 1998 during the Aitape Tsunami, and this has been maintained to date due to the important
functions it has to fulfill.
The committee comprises of technical and specialized government and non-government officers in
the disaster related fields. The Papua New Guinea Disaster Management system is headed by the
National Disaster Committee who is responsible to the National Executive Council through the
Minister for Inter-Government Relations.
Non-Government Organizations’ (NGO’s)
NGOs those are active in Disaster Management in PNG include the PNG Red Cross Society,
OXFAM, World Vision, Salvation Army, CARE, MSF, church groups and the Council of Social
Services. These organizations, active in the country with disaster and emergency programs, have
representatives in most of the Provinces and Districts of the country. As part of effective coordination
and monitoring of short term and long term responses, only registered NGOs are now permitted to
involve in any emergency or disaster situation.
Disaster Management Team (DMT)
The Government of PNG and the UN system have also established a Disaster Management Team
(DMT) mechanism, which comprises all the key agencies working on DRM with Government,
development partners and NGOs, and is chaired by the Resident Coordinator with OCHA providing
secretarial support.
Some Disaster Management Team activities include in theory: following up on the implementation of
the UNDAC Mission recommendations; revision of the existing national contingency plan; ensuring
that coordination mechanisms are in place; and becoming the Inter-Agency Standing Committee in
case of a disaster.
Mitigation Policy
The National Disaster Mitigation Policy was approved by the National Executive Council (NEC) in
2003 and was launched in 2004. It changed the emphasis in disaster management from disaster
response to preparedness and mitigation. NDC had been promoting the policy in its provinces with
DM partners
The National Disaster Awareness and Preparedness Committee
The committee is a sub-committee of the National Disaster Committee and was established in early
1999. The committee is a coordinating and advisory body that has no executive powers.
The functions of the committee are to promote awareness and preparedness of natural and other
hazards throughout PNG, provide technical advice of the highest possible stand to the Government of
the PNG and other civil authorities in regard to natural and other hazards, to encourage and
coordinate scientific investigations that are relevant to natural and other hazards in PNG and to
improve communication and cooperation amongst those concerned with disaster reduction.