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Reducing risks
On World Environment Day in 2007, the Tuvalu Red
Cross, in partnership with youth groups, Alofa Tuvalu,
Island Care and the Environment Department, took part
in activities such as cleaning up the shoreline and plant-
ing pandanus along the coast. They conducted similar
activities in 2008, as well as a nationwide quiz among
youth groups. Such activities combine well with
messages promoting disaster preparedness and a cleaner,
safer environment.
For the past two years, the Tuvalu Red Cross has had a
regular slot on national radio through which it broadcasts
messages on health, the environment, climate change and
disaster preparedness. For example, during dry periods,
the Red Cross reminds people to use water wisely, offers
advice on boiling water and stresses the importance of
Nature (WWF) that promotes cooperation in relation to the issue of
climate change, by raising awareness and sharing skills and knowledge.
The Tuvalu Red Cross climate change and disaster management
officer trained 17 volunteers to form an Emergency Response Team
in Funafuti in March 2007. When a series of large waves struck a
low-lying part of the Funafuti atoll early one morning in April 2007,
flooding a number of houses, six families totalling over 100 people
were evacuated with the assistance of the volunteer members of the
Emergency Response Team. The National Disaster Management
Office facilitated the distribution of evacuees into meeting halls –
Tuvalu Red Cross took in a proportion of them at the Red Cross head-
quarters in Funafuti and distributed relief materials. To assist in
future response efforts, a lockable ‘response box’ has since been built
in the main office, containing high-visibility vests, portable radios,
torches, assessment forms and other items needed for the rapid
deployment of the Emergency Response Team.
Tataua Pese of the Tuvalu Red Cross explains how to use a satellite phone for emergency communications
Image: Giora Dan, International Federation of Red Cross & Red Crescent Societies