When a cyclone forms offshore or floodwaters begin to
rise the effectiveness of an early warning system depends on
more than a forecast. It depends on whether communities
receive the right information and the right time and are
able to act on it.
Fiji has made significant progress
in strengthening the systems and institutions that support
early warnings. Government agencies, emergency responders,
humanitarian organisations, telecommunication providers and
community networks all play a key role in ensuring warnings
move from detection to action.
But one critical
question remains: Can warnings consistently reach the last
mile, including remote maritime communities and vulnerable
populations before disaster strikes?
The answer lies
in understanding the entire warning chain.
Detection
and Coordination
Every early warning begins with
detecting a potential hazard and the rapid assessment of the
risks it presents.
Fiji is strengthening this process
through efforts to enhance its Multi-Hazard Early Warning
System and introduce the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP),
which can enable warnings to be disseminated consistently
across multiple platforms, including radio, television and
mobile phones.
For the Fiji Police Force, coordination
is critical to turning warning information into action. With
officers stationed across the country and longstanding links
with communities, schools and faith groups, the force also
plays an important role in disseminating information,
particularly in remote and maritime
areas.
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“Coordination is very important because it
triggers timely decision-making. It is also about ensuring
safe community actions and safeguarding our people,” said
Assistant Superintendent of Police and Officer in Charge of
Police Command Coordination Centre, Koroi
Seduadua.
The recent Fiji Multi-Hazard Early Warnings
System and Common Alerting Protocol workshop highlighted
broad stakeholder consensus on the need for stronger
governance arrangements, clearly defined institutional roles
and improved coordination mechanisms to support warning
generation, dissemination and response.
Response
Mobilisation
Once a warning is issued, emergency
services must mobilise quickly.
For Fiji’s National
Fire Authority, timely information allows firefighters and
emergency personnel to prepare resources, coordinate with
response partners and position teams ahead of a
disaster.
“As first responders, the sooner we
receive the warning, the faster we’ll respond and the more
lives will be saved,” said Station Officer for the
National Fire Authority Command Centre, Rokowati
Crocker.
While tropical cyclones can often provide
several days of lead time, other hazards such as earthquakes
and tsunami threats may leave only a narrow window for
action. In these situations, delays at any point in the
warning chain can reduce the time available for communities
to respond.
Workshop participants identified resilient
communication systems, interoperability between agencies and
stronger telecommunication infrastructure as priority
investments to improve warning dissemination and emergency
response capabilities.
Community-Level
Delivery
The greatest test comes at the end of the
chain and whether a warning reaches people in time and in a
form they can understand and act upon.
Discussions
reinforced the importance of maintaining redundancy through
multiple communication channels, including mobile networks,
social media, radio broadcasts and community-based
communication systems, and ensuring that the communications
must be inclusive and accessible to all and in multi-lingual
format.
For the Fiji Red Cross Society, strong local
networks are essential.
“The information needs to
cascade right down to the last person or the last mile. It
is also important that we are not only focused on one type
of hazard, but prepared for all,” said Disaster Management
Resilience Coordinator at the Fiji Red Cross Society, Unaisi
Baro.
The workshop also recognised the ongoing
importance of traditional governance structures in
supporting the last mile communication. Turaga-ni-Koro
networks, provincial councils, and communication-based
organisations continue to play a crucial role in sharing
information and helping communities take proactive and
protective action.
The Evidence Gap:
The
importance of strengthening every link in the warning chain
is underscored by Fiji’s growing exposure to climate and
disaster risks.
According to the Fiji
National Anticipatory Action Framework for Tropical Cyclones
2025-2027, Fiji government estimated that by 2050, over
6.5 per cent of Fiji’s gross domestic product could be
lost due to tropical cyclones and floods, with the number of
people being pushed into poverty every year increasing by 25
per cent.
Early warnings are therefore more than
simply a technical investment but are also a critical tool
for reducing disaster losses, protecting development gains
and supporting anticipatory action before impacts
occur.
Inclusion Remains as a Gap
Receiving a
warning does not necessarily mean being able to understand
or act on it. Participants highlighted that the need for
warning system that are inclusive and accessible to all
users, including persons with disabilities, women, older
persons, children, non-English speakers, and communities in
remote locations.
For many vulnerable groups,
receiving a warning does not automatically mean being able
to understand it, access it or action it. Addressing these
barriers remains one of the most significant challenges in
achieving effective last mile early warning
coverage.
Closing the Gap
Fiji has built
strong foundations for a more coordinated and effective
warning system.
The challenge now is ensuring that
these improvements translate into reliable last mile
reach.
This is at the heart of Fiji’s work under the
he global Early Warnings for All initiative, launched by
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, with the
goal of ensuring that every person is protected by
life-saving multi-hazard early warning systems by
2027.
Minister for Rural and Maritime Development and
Disaster Management, Hon. Mosese Bulitavu said:
“The
Common Alerting Protocol offers Fiji an opportunity to
modernise and strength our warning dissemination
arrangements. By enabling alerts to be created once and
distribute simultaneously across multiple communication
channels, it can improve consistency, reliability, and speed
in emergency communications. More importantly, it supports a
coordinated national approach that ensures no community is
left behind.”
Fiji’s next challenge is therefore not
simply generating warnings faster, but strengthening the
infrastructure and systems that carry those warnings to the
last mile. This means investing in resilient
telecommunications, ensuring backup communication channels
are available when primary networks fail, improving
interoperability between agencies, and making alerts
accessible to people regardless of location, language or
disability.
Because in the face of disaster, time only
saves lives when information reaches the people who need it
most.
