Comprehensive
Disaster Management in the Caribbean: "Towards Consensus
and Cooperation to Mainstream Disaster Reduction Into Development"
UNDP
has supported the development of disaster reduction strategies
and capacity building programmes for Regional Organizations
with a disaster reduction mandate. In the English speaking Caribbean,
UNDP supported a highly successful cost sharing initiative with
the USAID: Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA),
the UNDP Office for the Eastern Caribbean located in Barbados
and the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA),
to develop a Comprehensive Disaster Management Strategy (CDM)
for the Caribbean region and to strengthen CDERA to spearhead
its implementation and the promotion at the national level.
This
strategy which has as it Goal: “Sustainable Development
in the Caribbean” realized through the strategic objective
“Integration of CDM into the Development Process of CDERA
member States’ was developed through interactive and iterative
dialogue among key stakeholders in the public and private sectors,
donor and multilateral organizations, civil society and multi-level
financial institutions operating. It provides an important benchmark
for stakeholder cooperation and a useful platform for pro-actively
addressing disaster reduction issues within the context of development
planning. The CDM strategy development process in itself represented
a significant development in the way critical agendas are developed
in disaster management in the region.
Since
the adoption of the CDM Strategy at a regional conference in
June 2001, it has been presented to at least seven (7) national
consultations for consideration for adoption at the national
level. These consultations have been characterized by high-level
participation of the political leaders, including Heads of Government
in some cases with participation of senior decision makers from
the public and the private sectors. Already in the British Virgin
Islands (BVI) the government has begun to integrate the CDM
process into its integrated development strategy. National legislation
has been enhanced to support the intersectoral dialogue and
cooperation essential to CDM.
The
donor community working in the Caribbean has been very supportive
of the Strategy and has undertaken to inform their bilateral
and multi-lateral programmes for disaster management by the
priorities indicated in the Results Framework. Already the governments
of Japan and Canada have provided more than US$5 million to
finance CDM related programmes. The European Community Humanitarian
Office (ECHO) Disaster Preparedness Programme, the Inter-American
Development Bank (IADB) and the USAID/OFDA are also providing
resources to support the advancement of the CDM agenda.
Under
this activity an institutional review was conducted of CDERA
to determine its capacity to spearhead the implementation of
CDM at the regional level and to provide support to its member
states for national level implementation. Since the completion
of this Institutional Review USAID/OFDA has provided additional
funds to support the strengthening of CDERA to take on this
role. UNDP will also provide additional resources to complement
this and support institutional strengthening for national level
implementation.
The
CDM Strategy has provided an avenue for bringing important critical
actors in disaster loss reduction into a mechanism in which
their participation has at best been marginal. CDERA, as the
CDM broker, has engaged the utility sector in dialogue in raising
the profile and agenda for loss reduction in the regional utility
sector. It will be signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
with the Caribbean Electric Utilities Services Corporation (CARILEC)
shortly. The CDM Strategy has provided a mechanism for dialogue
between climate change actors and disaster reduction professionals.
The collaboration between CDERA, UNDP and ACCC (Adapting to
Climate Change in the Caribbean project) on a programme for
mainstreaming of climate change in disaster management in the
region is testimony to the benefits of shared strategic objectives.
CDM
stakeholders and partners are enthusiastic about having additional
benefits for disaster reduction in the Caribbean. The importance
of regular information sharing and programme cooperation has
been reinforced. The outcome of this has been the providing
of information for the maintenance of a CDM matrix that will
inventory ongoing programmes and projects under the result areas.
Additionally the support for the convening of a regular CDM
forum has been snowballing. Partners are already examining how
the existing programmes can support this through cooperative
financing.
The
CDM has made a great difference to the disaster reduction agenda
in the Caribbean. It has energized stakeholders, inspired political
leaders and revived marginalized emergency managers.
UNDP/BCPR
Disaster Reduction unit in Geneva thank the UNDP Country Office
in Barbados and the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency
(CDERA) for their significant input in the preparation of this
piece.
The initiative
involved:
