UN, Government and Development Partners Joint Mission to Central Lau was organized by the United Nations Resident Coordinator (UNRC) to prioritize detailed assessments; distribution of relief items; identification and announcement of response and early recovery initiatives; and delivery of basic services to islands affected by TC Yasa in the Central Lau Group in Fiji. The mission encompassed the following islands: Cicia, Nayau, Vanuavatu, Lakeba, Oneata, Moce, and Komo; which took place from the 15th to the 21st of February 2021. On 17 December 2020, severe category 5 TC Yasa made landfall in the Bua province on the island of Vanua Levu in Fiji's Northern Division, TC Yasa traversed Vanua Levu before weakening to a Category 3 cyclone as it hit the Lau Islands in the Eastern Division leaving devastating trails of distractions. Extremely strong winds and storm surges were experienced on the Lau group.

Coastal resources are the primary source of food and livelihood for villagers, while farming was an alternative source of food that was damaged by the cyclone Yasa. TC Yasa had a significant impact on fishing infrastructures such as boats, engines, gears, aquaculture installations, and fish aggregating devices (FADs). Preliminary assessment of the damage and losses to boats, engines, gears, post-harvesting equipment, and FADs by tropical cyclone Yasa was carried out by a joint UN and Government mission in which FAO and the Ministry of Fisheries (MoF) participated. Impact of cyclones on FADs deserves special attention as more than half of the FADs installed are damaged or lost to repeated cyclones, with some reportedly submerged. Most of the fishing gears and fibreglass boats were damaged by the storm surge resulting in minor cracks to the boats, while some took precautionary measures and moved their assets away from the water prior to the cyclone.

Accessibility to the market and mode of communication is the main challenge faced by the people of Lau islands due to remoteness and poor network coverage. There is no marketplace on the islands, fishing vessels visit the islands once every two weeks, this is when fishers get an opportunity to sell their catch. Excessive fish caught is sold to villagers as there is no accessibility to a proper storage facility, fishes are smoked to be preserved for 2- 3 days, while some have a solar-operated freezer which is shared among the fishermen. Village ladies who engage in fishing activities utilize tools such as a kitchen knife, a handwoven basket (made of coconut leaves), a bag (sack), and a handline with hooks to collect sea-grapes (Nama), mussels (Kaikoso), seashells, land crab (Lairo), mud crab (Qari), and other coastal resources.

United Nations have provided essential support to the work of FAO with the Ministry of Fisheries through the release of funds of the Central Emergency Relief Funds (CERF) to support TC Yasa-affected households. The project entitled “Emergency support to re-establish agriculture and fisheries livelihoods of households affected by Tropical Cyclone Yasa” aims to restore the food security and livelihoods of affected fishery households. FAO coordinated with the Ministry of Fisheries to identify the most vulnerable affected fishers to be assisted through CERF assistance, to replace damaged or lost fishing gear equipment, post-harvesting equipment, and aquaculture tilapia feed. FADs will be replaced in the most priority areas identified by the MoF through the FishFAD project, also known as ‘Enhancing livelihoods and food security through fisheries with nearshore fish aggregating devices in the Pacific Ocean’, which is being implemented by FAO and funded by the Government of Japan.