From Relief Web

REPORT from International Federation of Red Cross And Red Crescent Societies, UN Development Programme, Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency

Summary

The Caribbean region is highly prone to natural hazards such as hurricanes, floods, volcanic and seismic activities, droughts and forest fires. The increasing impact of global climate change and the risk posed by a range of natural, environmental and technological hazards are among the Caribbean’s most critical development problems. The past decades have been marked by an intensification of the impact of disasters, such as the destruction of livelihoods and communities, as well as a setback in development gains.

Thus, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) set out to improve their Early Warning Systems (EWS) through an 18-month project financed by European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO).

The country level actions were supported by UNDP, International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), and the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), who embraced a partnership approach and helped reinforce the efforts to realize a more integrated EWS and enhance disaster riskreduction at the regional, national and community level.

This document provides a systematization of the results, lessons, processes and tools used in the process of South-South Cooperation (SSC) between the five Caribbean countries and Cuba, given the latter’s experience and expertise in disaster risk reduction and early warning systems. The cooperation consisted of the selection of a priority action in the EWS Roadmap of the recipient country, the preparation of a Solution Package by Cuban experts to address it and transfer those capacities to the country, including the adaptation of their tools to the recipient’s context, and the implementation of proposed solutions themselves.

To download the Report go to: https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/UNDP-RBLAC-SYSTEMATIZATION_SSC_%28D2%29_v6.pdf