19 May 2015

UN calls on Vanuatu government to be more flexible

6:50 am on 19 May 2015

A senior United Nations official has called on the Vanuatu Government to be more flexible with international donors helping in the recovery effort from Cyclone Pam.

Locals point out the usual height of water in this fresh water well on Epi in the Shepherd Islands.

Locals point out the usual height of water in this fresh water well on Epi in the Shepherd Islands. After the cyclone none of the stored water sources were used for drinking creating a real problem for communities without fresh running water. Photo: RNZI / Koroi Hawkins

A UNDP assistant administrator, Haoliang Xu, says he is happy with the progress of humanitarian assistance in Vanuatu but says as the country looks to its long term recovery it needs to take a results-oriented approach to maximise outputs.

"We need to also focus on delivering results. And we should use government capacity and systems as much as possible but we ask the government for flexibility to use other channels of delivery. So that we do work together to achieve what the government wants to achieve. That is to really deliver benefits to the people."

Mr Xu says the Vanuatu government would like to shift emphasis from humanitarian relief to rehabiliation as soon as possible.