Countries in the Caribbean align disaster risk reduction national plans and strategies to the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction

UNDRR

PANAMÁ, PANAMÁ, AUGUST 22, 2018 – During the months of July and August, Barbados, Saint Lucia as well as Antigua and Barbuda developed Country Work Programme (CWP) Workshops in each country, with the objective of updating the existing multi-year disaster risk management (DRM) work programmes based on identified gaps and priorities. an essential part of the CWP are the Performance Measurement Frameworks using an basket of indicators as basis. This contributes to the main objective of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Reduction 2015-2030, to prevent the creation of risk, reduce existing risk and strengthen economic, social, health and environmental resilience by fulfilling the global target e that calls for aligning national disaster risk reduction strategies and plans with the Sendai Framework.

These are three of the six Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) participating states that are currently working on the update of their national DRR plans and strategies. The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction calls for the adoption and implementation of national and local DRR strategies and plans, across different timescales, with targets, indicators and time frames.

The process takes several months as it includes the identification of gaps by applying the Comprehensive Disaster Management Strategy (CDM) Audit tool, a tool that enables the CDEMA Coordinating Unit to assess the capacities of its Participating States (PS) and regional specialized agencies working to advance disaster risk management, including the CDEMA CU itself, to advance all phases of the disaster management cycle. This is enhanced and aligned with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Reduction 2015-2030, as well as other relevant regional and international frameworks. Based on the CDM Audit report as well as a reflection of existing national strategies and sectoral priorities, countries will be able to develop or update the national DRM plans. The CDM Audit results will also inform decision making processes at national and regional level.

Mr. Philmore Mullin, the Director of the Coordination Unit of the National Office for Disaster Services (NODS), highlighted the importance of multi-stakeholder engagement in disaster risk management (DRM) and its integration across all government sectors. He also considers the devastation of hurricane Irma as a lesson and opportunity to facilitate the process of integrating DRR and enhance coordination across all sectors.

In Barbados, Ms. Kerry Hinds, the Director of the Department of Emergency Management (DEM), acknowledged the inputs provided by the different agencies and stated that the CWP includes the perspective of all sectors and that its implementation is a collective effort, which aims towards a resilient Barbados.

Over the next two weeks, these workshops will be also organized in the British Virgin Islands, Guyana and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Countries are following a standardized process, which was developed by CDEMA and was aligned with the Sendai Framework as part of the harmonization process of the CDM with the Sendai Framework.

The CDM Strategy contemplates the development of national plans / strategies, called Country Work Programmes (CWP), and its related Performance Measurement Frameworks (PMF). The CWP and PMF guide the implementation of the CDM Strategy and Sendai Framework at the national level.

Over the last two years, efforts in harmonizing the CDM Strategy with the Sendai Framework were led by CDEMA and United Nations Office for Disaster Reduction (UNDRR) in collaboration with other partners. The results are reflected in the Technical Annex of the CDM Strategy. In parallel, a standard approach for the development of CWP and PMF was developed for the CDEMA Participating States (PS), for the PS to provide information to feed both reporting systems for CDEMA.

These activities are part of the project "Strengthening regional disaster risk reduction strategies and capacities for resilience in the Caribbean" financially supported by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA).

 

Related links:

Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030

Regional Comprehensive Disaster Management (CDM): strategy and results framework 2014-2024 - Summary

Guidelines For The Preparation of Country Work Programme: How to Prepare a Country Work Programme

http://www.cdema.org/

https://www.entwicklung.at/en

https://americas/index-eng.html