Fiji's permanent secretary for Disaster Management, Colonel Inia Seruiratu, says a change in the culture of reaction to one of prevention is what is needed to effectively address disasters.
His comments came during a training session for 40 professionals from Fiji and Samoa on disaster recovery planning.
Colonel Seruiratu says the Pacific faces a lot of risks but these can be managed and countries can learn to live with them.
Organised by the United Nations Development Fund, the training aims to build skills that are oriented towards resilient recovery and to enhance capacity to minimise the impact of future disasters.
It also aims to strengthen partnerships and improve knowledge in managing recovery programmes, while sharing from past experiences.
