For the very first time, the Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC) has been officially activated to support emergency preparedness activities. The request for activation and inclusion of the ETC in the list of Pacific Humanitarian Team clusters was endorsed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator on 30 November, with the World Food Programme (WFP) as nominated lead. 

As witnessed over the last two years, climate-related disasters are on the rise across the Pacific. Countries in this region have small and scattered populations that are spread out across a vast ocean and are highly vulnerable to tropical cyclones, volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis. ETC Pacific will support the emergency preparedness capacity development programmes of the response community in this region. 

Chaired by OCHA, the Pacific Humanitarian Team (PHT) is a collaborative mechanism among key actors for humanitarian activities in the region, covering 14 Pacific Island countries, namely: Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. Food Security, Health, Nutrition, WASH, Education, Protection, Shelter and Logistics clusters are already activated within the PHT.

Operational information can be found in, ETC Preparedness in the Pacific, and the team can be contacted at Pacific.ETC@wfp.org.