Vanuatu churches plan national campaign on inclusive disaster resilience

Above: Pastor Ben Wari of the Vanuatu Christian Council leads a meeting of the group working on the campaign. Photo: CAN DO

In the Pacific, churches play a key role in all communities, in daily life as well as before, during and after disasters. Through Church Agencies Network Disaster Operations (CAN DO), churches are involved in the AHP Disaster READY program as partners in supporting community disaster preparedness and response.

CAN DO research has found that Christian beliefs have a strong influence on individual and communal ideas and behaviour concerning disaster preparedness and response. Community members regularly ask questions of their faith leaders during times of disaster, and church leaders who are equipped with resources to advise their congregations on how to effectively respond and prepare for disasters can play a powerful role in influencing behaviour.

The CAN DO Safe ‘n Redi project within the Disaster READY program builds on the influence of faith and beliefs to drive long-term behaviour change and engagement around disaster preparedness and response.

Above: Participants meeting to discuss the campaign. Photo: CAN DO

Through the program CAN DO supported a group of Pacific Islander theologians to develop resources to address and respond to the most common questions people ask about disasters. These resources are being used in contextually relevant ways across Disaster READY program countries (Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Vanuatu and Fiji) and in several other Pacific countries.

In Vanuatu, CAN DO partners are working on a national media and community education campaign to address questions related to inclusion of marginalised groups. Under the guidance of Theological Coordinator Pastor Ben Wari at the Vanuatu Christian Council, a group of 15 men and six women (theologians, media experts and other civil society representatives) have met and begun mapping the timeline and media strategy for this campaign. Representatives of the Vanuatu Society for People with Disability also participated enthusiastically in discussions.

“The main idea behind the campaign is to advocate the message of inclusive disaster resilience throughout Vanuatu,” says Pastor Wari.

Over a series of meetings, the group has collaboratively decided upon four key messages for the campaign with supporting statements and biblical text. The messages emphasise God’s inclusive love for everyone affected by disaster, suggest that disasters are not caused by God, encourage communities to build resilience together, and promote disaster preparedness as everyone’s business.

The messages will be shared in Bislama across different platforms such as social media, television, radio, posters, music, t-shirts, flags and even in a student essay competition. Carefully chosen biblical passages reinforce the importance of including those most vulnerable in disaster response, and there will be a focus on resilience as a strength.

The National Disaster Management Office will be kept informed along the journey, as well as the government ministries of Health and Education.

The campaign will launch in, Luganville, Santo, in the country’s north, reaching Port Vila in time for National Disaster Awareness Week in October 2021.