Cook Islands: National action plan for disaster risk management 2009-2015

The National Action Plan for Disaster Risk Management (DRM NAP) provides a roadmap of how the Cook Islands will go about implementing the strategy of “establishing a coordinated and effective national disaster risk reduction and disaster management system for all hazards” as articulated under Goal 6 of the National Sustainable Development Plan 2007 – 2010. The NSDP is itself a key planning document linked to Te Kaveinga Nui – Living the Cook Islands Vision. A 2020 Challenge.

It is based on a growing realisation that development processes and people in the Cook Islands are increasingly vulnerable to disasters resulting from natural and human-made hazards, and that a culture of risk reduction and preparedness needs to be instilled across all levels of society in order to minimize (and preferably prevent) disaster impact.

Following a thorough process of review and participatory consultation, the DRM NAP highlights key gaps in the planning, policy, institutional, operational and awareness arenas related to the management of disaster risk and disaster preparedness, response and recovery in the Cook Islands.

Strategies and actions have been organised under five overarching Goals (Section 3) that closely reflects the themes of the Pacific Disaster Risk Reduction and Disaster Management Framework for Action 2006 – 2015, which is the Pacific region’s response to the international Hyogo Framework for Action 2005 – 2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters.

The Vision of the Cook Islands DRM NAP is: A Safe, Resilient and Sustainable Cook Islands.
The Goals of the Cook Islands DRM NAP are:

Goal 1: Good Governance for Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Management at all levels
Goal 2: Strong Knowledge Base for more Effective Disaster Risk Management
Goal 3: Effective Preparedness, Response and Recovery
Goal 4: Maintain Effective Early Warning Systems
Goal 5: Analysis and Assessment of Hazards to Reduce Underlying Risk
Goal 6: Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting