United States Navy Engineering and Medical Officers will arrive in Bougainville on June 20 to conduct advance planning and patient registration, in preparation for the visit of USNS Mercy hospital ship in Arawa on 27 June to July 4.
While in Bougainville, Pacific Partnership will conduct dental and surgical operations, hold health and anti-Gender Based Violence exercises, conduct veterinarian care, and refurbish two local schools.
The U.S. led Pacific Partnership mission includes personnel from Australia, New Zealand, Timor-Leste, Philippines, and Japan.
Advance planning has already taken place in Rabaul, which will receive USNS Mercy on 6 – 10 July.
Pacific Partnership was founded to deliver humanitarian assistance and disaster resilience to Pacific nations following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. The global response to the 2004 tsunami and the widespread goodwill and cooperation that resulted formed the genesis of Pacific Partnership’s mission to proactively build disaster response capacity. Besides providing medical and humanitarian assistance, Pacific Partnership’s overarching goal is to improve the effectiveness of the region’s military forces, governments, and humanitarian organizations during disaster relief operations.
Pacific Island host nations for 2015 are: Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Fiji, and Kiribati. Pacific Partnership 2015 activities may range from medical, dental, and veterinarian care to construction projects and crisis response training.
Source: U.S. Embassy, Port Moresby
