Coordination of emergency humanitarian responses in the South Pacific (FRANZ) - From the press briefing (17 October 2019)

On October 15, France, Australia, and New Zealand held a meeting in Wellington, New Zealand, to coordinate emergency responses to humanitarian crises in the South Pacific, in keeping with the FRANZ Arrangement signed in 1992. The next annual meeting will be held in New Zealand at the end of 2020.

This arrangement has emerged as an effective tool for responding to emergency humanitarian crises at a time when the intensity of disasters is increasing as a result of climate disruptions whose first victims are the island nations of the South Pacific. Thanks to the projection capabilities of the French armed forces stationed in New Caledonia and French Polynesia, France has participated in numerous relief operations in the region, coordinated by the Crisis and Support Center (CDCS) of the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, and the High Commission of the Republic in New Caledonia.

On the sidelines of these meetings, the CDCS provided a shipment of humanitarian supplies to Nouméa today, in partnership with the regional delegation of the French Red Cross in New Caledonia. Immediately usable in the event of a relief request by one of the countries in the area, this shipment consists of non-perishable emergency items such as tents, tarpaulins, cooking kits and tool kits. It will be provided to the regional delegation of the French Red Cross to be deployed in New Caledonia, if it is hit by a crisis.

That brings the number of such shipments provided by the CDCS, in conjunction with the French Red Cross and the Department of Civil Security and Crisis Management (DGSCGC) to four (in Ile de France, the Antilles, New Caledonia and Réunion), making it possible to respond more swiftly to an emergency.