THE VALLEY – Anguilla was represented at the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) 9th Caribbean Disaster Management (CDM) conference by the Director of Disaster Management, Mr Lynrod Brooks from 30th November to 4th December, 2015, under the theme: “The Road to Resilience: Checkpoint 2015”. The meeting was hosted at the Melia Nassau Beach Resort in Nassau, Bahamas.
The conference which was very well attended brought together policy makers, disaster management practitioners, stakeholders and professional experts from the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean region, for a meaningful dialogue and to chart a strategic course of action for the way forward in CDEMA’s 18 participating member countries in the region.
As the theme suggests, the forum was the first checkpoint and provided an opportunity to report on the level of progress made after two years of the implementation of the 2014-2024 Caribbean Comprehensive Disaster Management Strategy as countries aspire to move towards the desired future state of regional resilience. Consequently, a number of new initiatives were unveiled. These included the Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting (MER) Framework for the Comprehensive Disaster Management (CDM) Strategy 2014-2024 and the baseline study. These tools were considered critical in that they would provide decision-makers with information related to progress, as well as gaps and lessons learnt in the implementation of CDM. The Conference also highlighted CDM actions being undertaken in the context of the four outcomes (Institutional Strengthening, Knowledge Management, Sector Mainstreaming and Community Resilience) and identified priority actions to be undertaken as well as to facilitate knowledge exchanges on pathways to resilience. The Conference also created a space to reflect on the progress of CDM over the last 10 years. Mr Brooks stated that the meeting was timely and it further highlighted the need for member states to adopt a harmonized approach to disaster risk management. He concluded by stating that the department is continuing its efforts to build strong alliances while working in partnership with key stakeholders nationally and regionally in order to ensure the successful delivery of comprehensive disaster management in Anguilla.
Department of Disaster Management
8 December 2015
– Press Release
(Published without editing by The Anguillian newspaper.)
