Locations- UNDP Resident Representative says Multi Country Office open for business on Loss and Damage
UNDP prioritizes technical assistance and financing for disaster loss and damage to Jamaica and The Bahamas
June 14, 2025
UNDP Resident Representative Kishan Khoday addressing the Hurricane-Ready and Resilient Forum at UNDP on 10 June
Photo by
Jamaica Information Service/UNDP
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Multi Country Office in Jamaica is ready to partner with Jamaica and The Bahamas on securing scaled up disaster resilience and recovery financing, including provision of technical assistance on loss and damage, Resident Representative, Dr Kishan Khoday disclosed this week.
He was addressing UNDP’s Hurricane-Ready and Resilient Forum on Loss and Damage for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises, at UNDP’s Multi-Country Office in Kingston on Tuesday – 10 days into Hurricane Season 2025.
Considering the increasing frequency and intensity of climate induced disasters and the scale of impact, Dr Khoday said he is declaring the Multi Country Office in Jamaica ‘open for business’ on capacity development for averting and minimizing loss and damage and for addressing loss and damage following disaster events.
UNDP recently became a member of the global UNFCCC Santiago Network on Loss and Damage, focused on providing technical assistance to vulnerable countries to avert, minimize and address loss and damage from climate induced disasters. This is coupled with the new global Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage, which is expected to commence provision of funding in 2025 to vulnerable developing countries, and for which UNDP stands ready to partner with Jamaica and The Bahamas as needs arise.
Underscoring the region’s need for disaster recovery and loss and damage financing, Dr Khoday said loss and damage in Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS) averaged 2.5 percent of GDP – higher than for the Pacific SIDS, Africa and Latin America, from 1980-2020, according to some estimates. He said GDP impact could increase from five percent in 2025, to 20 percent by 2100, and is likely to severely impact climate vulnerable sectors like tourism and agriculture, both central to livelihoods across the Caribbean.
Dr Khoday said UNDP prioritizes the disproportionate risks an accelerating climate emergency holds for vulnerable communities, including the risks faced by MSMEs, and those led by women and persons with disabilities who require special consideration and attention. He said MSMEs which make up 97% of all enterprises in Jamaica, and 98 percent in The Bahamas, are especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate induced disasters due to their informality, limited resources, and inadequate access to financing, insurance and disaster preparedness tools. He said they also play a key role in generation and provision of goods and services at the community level and are the base of community livelihoods. Cumulatively, disaster impacts on MSMEs play a major role in overall national economic loss and damage following a disaster, while constraining the ability of communities to recover livelihoods and income, he explained.
“MSMEs are too significant to national economic wellbeing and local services and livelihoods to fail or to sustain lengthy closures after a disaster. We must redouble efforts to avert and minimize loss and damage to MSMEs and related community livelihoods and secure their role in early recovery”, the UNDP Resident Representative stated.
He said to move from dialogue to action, UNDP and UN agency partners will launch a new Caribbean regional programme on disaster risk reduction in 2025 to help communities avert and minimize the impact of disasters and access scaled up finance for recovery. “Through the support of the EU, UNDP will provide grant assistance of US$500,000 in Jamaica for example aimed at enhancing systems and capacities for financing resilience recovery goals and for expanding the use of digital solutions”, he explained.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development, Marsha Henry Martin acknowledged the importance of understanding the individual realities of MSMEs, including their unique characteristics, locations and vulnerabilities, ensuring no one is left behind. She called on her team for a review of relevant policies to ensure the inclusion of MSMEs. She said if there is insufficient consideration of small businesses, “we must step back a bit and ensure that MSMEs are sufficiently covered, and if there are other areas that we can examine to ensure that we meet the people where they are”.
Director-General (Acting), Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management, Richard Thompson called for MSMEs to make every effort to prepare Business Continuity plans to ensure their operations can continue in the event of a disaster.
He explained that business continuity, which includes planning business recovery in case of impact, allows for the minimization of downtime and the ability to restore normal function in the shortest possible time. As an example, he called on MSME to store vital records off-site to avoid delays in restarting operations.
The forum is the third installation of UNDP’s Resilient Series, a vehicle for knowledge exchange on Disaster Risk Reduction, Resilience and Recovery, centred on best practices, lessons and challenges within territories served by the Multi Country Office – Jamaica, The Bahamas, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Related
content
content
