Caribbean disaster response system targeted for major upgrade

The Caribbean is moving to strengthen its regional disaster response architecture as countries confront increasingly complex and interconnected threats.

The issue is at the centre of a three-day validation workshop in Barbados on building the next level of the Regional Response Mechanism.

The initiative is being led by the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, CDEMA, and brings together national disaster coordinators, regional and international organisations, technical partners and other stakeholders.

CDEMA Deputy Executive Director Lieutenant Colonel Kester Craig says the regional mechanism has been the backbone of coordinated emergency support for decades, but the environment in which it operates is changing.

“We are confronted by more intense hydrometeorological events, global islands being affected at the same time, cascading hazards, disruption to the supply chains, and increasingly complex technological and biological hazards.”

The workshop is examining a draft strategic document, logical framework, operational roadmap and monitoring and evaluation approach.

Craig says the objective is to determine whether the existing system is sufficiently agile, connected and capable of meeting future challenges.

The discussions are expected to focus on coordination, logistics, communications, technology, financing, information-sharing and accountability.

He says regional solidarity must be translated into practical operational capacity.

 “When systems are connected, when roles are understood, when trust is built before a disaster, and when partners can move with speed and purpose, regional solidarity becomes operational capability.”

The process is intended to produce a shared direction for strengthening regional and national disaster response networks. (PR/GIS)