NEOC Functional Exercise ITIKI'ANGA

Opening Remarks – RC Karla Hershey
NEOC Functional Exercise ITIKI'ANGA | Rarotonga, Cook Islands

Kia Orana and warm greetings to you all,

It is a great honour to be here in the Cook Islands on my first official mission as the United Nations Resident Coordinator for the Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa, and Tokelau.

It is a privilege for me to be here and to begin my engagement with the Cook Islands by observing and learning from your humanitarian response system. As Resident Coordinator, I represent the United Nations’ collective focus on ensuring that people are resilient, protected, and that their dignity is upheld in times of crisis.

I would like to begin by acknowledging the leadership of the Office of the Prime Minister, in particular Chief of Staff Mrs. Karopaerangi Ngatoko, the Director of Emergency Services Mr. John Strickland, members of the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC), and our close partners from NEMA New Zealand.

I warmly congratulate the Government of the Cook Islands for the establishment of the national cluster system and for the initiative to conduct the NEOC Functional Exercise ITIKI'ANGA. This exercise marks a major step in strengthening national preparedness and response systems.

In particular, I commend the focus on reviewing the national standard operating procedures (SOPs) and ensuring that all members of the humanitarian community have clearly defined roles and responsibilities within the cluster system.

Today’s exercise also serves to test the Pacific Incident Management System (PIMS), in collaboration with regional structures, and within the context of a shared Pacific approach to humanitarian response and coordination.

The United Nations and the Pacific Humanitarian Team stand ready to support the Cook Islands and to collaborate with national and regional partners to strengthen its humanitarian system through disaster preparedness, anticipatory action, and locally led response.

I sincerely hope that this initiative sets a strong example for other countries and territories in the South Pacific, and contributes to greater peer-to-peer learning and shared progress across the region.

I look forward to learning from this exercise and to walking this path with you in the spirit of Pacific solidarity.

Meitaki ma’ata.