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English News and Press Release on Vanuatu about Climate Change and Environment, Disaster Management, Tropical Cyclone and more; published on 22 May 2021 by CBi
The UN initiative that has helped the private sector respond to over 100 crises
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When Tropical Cyclone Harold – a category 5 cyclone – made landfall in Vanuatu in April 2020, it was the first major climate-related disaster to hit a country during the COVID-19 pandemic. While international humanitarian support was slowed down because of travel restrictions, local businesses stepped up and led relief efforts.
The Vanuatu Business Resilience Council (VBRC), a local network of 2,800 members, coordinated damage assessments and provided over 35 tons of food and non-food items to the worst-hit areas.
This success story is just one of the hundreds of initiatives by Connecting Business Initiative (CBi) networks. Since its launch on 24 May 2016, the CBi networks have responded to over 100 crises, mobilized over US$52 million, and assisted 17 million people.
Connecting Business initiative: Progress report 2020
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Crisis response and recovery
A category 5 cyclone struck Vanuatu in April, making it the first country in the world to respond to a major cyclone while its borders were closed. The local CBi network, the Vanuatu Business Resilience Council (VBRC) helped supply over 1,000 remote coastal households with 35 tonnes of food and NFIs over eight weeks, working with private-sector partners, NGOs and the UN to support the government.
Read more about CBi Member Networks crisis response and recovery activities on pages 7 and 10–15
COVID-19
CBi worked closely with the UN system, member networks and other partners to support the health response, strengthen crisis management (preparedness, response and recovery) and address critical economic impacts.