17 May 2025, Honiara, Solomon Islands – The Weather Ready Pacific (WRP) Programme, a Pacific-led initiative known affectionately in the Pacific National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) circles as their “Pacific baby”, is gaining momentum with a series of planning meetings scheduled to be held next week that will finalise key activities to be implemented utilising a tranche of funding received from Australia and New Zealand.
The three-day planning meetings, starting Monday 19 May 2025, will provide an opportunity for WRP Programme implementing partners to discuss and plan out the activities to be undertaken under the Programme. It will conclude with a meeting of the WRP Steering Committee, which aims to provide guidance, oversight, and strategic direction to ensure the successful implementation and achievement of WRP objectives.
The WRP’s key beneficiaries, Pacific National Meteorological and Hydrological Services and the National Disaster Management Offices, will be represented by their respective Directors and nominated representatives who are attending the Climate and Oceans Support Program in the Pacific (COSPPac) meetings being held in Honiara this week. The meetings will also bring supporting agencies, technical institutions and donors.
WRP Chair and also the Director of the Fiji Meteorological Services, Mr. Misaeli Funaki, says the meetings next week is an opportunity for countries to discuss their activities at the national level to ensure coordination with the Early Warnings for All Initiative and and other those of other countries in the region.
According to Director Funaki, the WRP Programme was formulated by the Pacific for the Pacific – the Pacific meteorological experts who know and understand the region’s context and circumstances have put together something that will truly serve the Pacific’s needs in the long term.
“Too many times we have been in many settings where projects are planned by others from outside our region and then once the project is finished, there is no continuity in terms of implementation,” Director Funaki says.
“The difference with WRP is that it was designed by us – we have the traditional and local knowledge on how things are done in the Pacific context, primarily now in response to the call for Early Warnings 4 All, which is a very important call to action from the United Nations Secretary General.”
“Weather Ready is ready, and our countries who have come onboard are ready to take up this call for the sake of our Pacific people,” he added.
He acknowledged with gratitude the assistance received from the Governments of Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and other donors who have already invested significantly in the Programme.
“WRP is grateful for the support of our bigger Pacific island brothers, Australia, New Zealand and United Kingdom. To us, it is a show of faith from Australia and New Zealand in this initiative,” Director Funaki said.
“JICA is also building the Regional Training and Calibration Centre in Fiji to support a Pacific effort in keeping our islands resilient."
“Some initial funding support is already being utilised on the ground to provide capacity building for our Met Services, with training being implemented at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, as well as in Fiji, where 12 junior staff from Pacific NHMSs are attending a six-month training attachment at the Regional Training Centre based with the Fiji Meteorological Services in Nadi.”
The six-month training initiative is co-funded by the WRP and the European Union-funded Intra-ACP Climate Services and Related Applications (ClimSA) Programme.
Director Funaki recognises the importance of capacity building for Met service staff, as, “Before we can move on to the bigger infrastructural changes, the capacity of our people need to be strengthened, and for this we are thankful to our donors for their funding, and we look forward, through the Grace of God, for more funding to come our way.”
The Weather Ready Pacific is managed under the Climate Science and Information Division of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).
The Weather Ready Pacific Programme Planning Meetings will be held from 19 – 22 May 2025 in Honiara, Solomon Islands.
For more information, please contact Mr. ‘Ofa Fa’anunu, Weather Ready Pacific Programme Manager, at ofaf@sprep.org.