Nichols urges Caribbean to shift from disaster reaction to risk management

Minister of Home Affairs and Information Gregory Nichols says the Caribbean must move beyond responding to disasters after they happen and place greater emphasis on prevention, preparedness and resilience.

Nichols made the point while addressing the validation workshop on building the next level of the Regional Response Mechanism in Barbados.

He said the Caribbean’s disaster landscape has changed, with countries facing stronger hurricanes, more intense rainfall, drought, coastal erosion, public health emergencies and technological disruptions.

According to Nichols, the region must rethink how it prepares for, responds to and recovers from disasters.

He described the desired transition as a move from emergency management to comprehensive disaster management.

 “It is a shift from reacting to anticipating, a shift from responding to events to managing risk, a shift from restoring what was lost to building back stronger and safer.”

Nichols said disaster management must cover prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response, recovery and resilience building.

He also called for greater investment in risk reduction, early warning systems, technology, data, stronger institutions and human capacity.

The Minister stressed that disaster management cannot be left solely to disaster offices and emergency responders.

Governments, private-sector organisations, communities and individual citizens must all play a role in building resilience, he said.

Nichols also highlighted the importance of regional cooperation, pointing to climate change, transboundary hazards, supply-chain disruptions, cyber threats and public health emergencies as challenges that do not respect national borders.

 “Regional cooperation is no longer simply desirable, it is now indispensable.”

He said strengthening the Regional Response Mechanism represents an investment in the region’s collective security, economies, communities and future development.