Region focuses on reducing disaster response

Aug 13, 2008 News

The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA) is heading a Task Force aimed at reducing the impact of disasters on Caribbean countries by strengthening regional cooperation. The Barbados-based agency says it will host the first meeting on August 21.

“By taking a unified approach to disaster management which involves 27 of the countries that call themselves Caribbean, and not just the 16 states that CDERA now serves, the Task Force will play a pioneering role in promoting regional integration and cooperation,” CDERA said.

“The Task Force’s work will also be vital to the continued development of Caribbean states, with each country knowing that it will not be left to fend for itself in the face of disasters and the economic hardship they bring.”

The Task Force is being supported by the European Commission which, according to CDERA, recognises that economic growth in the Caribbean cannot occur without greater regional cooperation and integration, and that sustainable development in the region must involve the British and Dutch Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT) as well as the French Overseas Departments (DOM).

The CDERA-led group will therefore consist of representatives from CARIFORUM, OCT and DOM states, as well as those from the EC and specialised institutions such as the University of the West Indies and the United Nations Development Programme. It is called the CARIFORUM/OCT/DOM Task Force on Disaster Management.

CDERA said the inaugural meeting of the CARIFORUM/OCT/DOM Task Force on Disaster Management will focus on disaster-based cooperation opportunities across the region, and the training, infrastructure and levels of public awareness needed to make all 27 countries involved more capable of preparing for and dealing with disasters.

The group will also explore ways for programmes such as the Tsunami Early Warning System and CDERA’s Relief Supplies Tracking System, which previously involved only some Caribbean countries, to be expanded to cover the whole region.

The Task Force also intends to kick off a language training programme so that disaster management personnel from each territory can communicate with each other more effectively.

“This will ensure that cooperation between regional disaster management bodies not just continues, but thrives well into the future,” CDERA said.