The event takes place in the Central American country until 1st June and is attended by 350 scientists, politicians, designers, engineers and researchers from more than 35 countries

·         The Understanding Risk Caribbean Conference arises from the regional need to develop a better exchange of strategies, policies and plans for disaster prevention, especially after the hurricanes that hit the Atlantic in 2017

04/06/2019- Barbados. The Natural Disaster Risk Management Program (NDRM), an initiative founded by the European Union to promote adaptation to climate change and manage climate risk in CARIFORUM member countries, is currently participating in the Understanding Risk Caribbean Conference, a regional meeting on risk management held at the University of the West Indies in Barbados from May 27th to June 1st.

Organized by the World Bank’s Caribbean Disaster Risk Management team with support from the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) and the European Union, and hosted by the Government of Barbados, the conference brings together members from 35 countries and participants as varied as representatives of government ministries, national agencies and disaster risk management experts, urban planning experts, insurance companies, general companies, NGOs, researchers, development banks or donors to share strategies, policies and plans to prevent natural disasters.

The event is part of the Understanding Risk community, a platform for collaboration, knowledge sharing and innovation in disaster risk identification and assessment that brings together more than 8,000 experts and professionals active in the creation, communication and use of disaster risk information. The Understanding Risk community meets every two years in its forums, where it facilitates the exchange of knowledge and interaction among key actors for risk prevention in the region. The event is especially important considering the work to be done in the region, as the Caribbean Islands are currently one of the most vulnerable regions in terms of natural disasters per capita or land surface.

Some of the topics covered are risk analysis and communication, physical, fiscal and urban resilience, coastal protection or community engagement and emergency preparedness.

The #URCaribbean meeting is led by the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, the Executive Director of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), Ronald Jackson, the Ambassador of the European Union in Barbados, Daniela Tramacere and the Practice Manager for Urban Development and Disaster Risk Management in the Latin America and Caribbean Region from the World Bank, Ming Zhang.

Some of the main challenges facing the Understanding Risk community in the region are identifying disaster risk information needs, providing training to countries in areas such as fiscal resilience, coastal protection or risk analysis, sharing knowledge and best practices, and implementing innovation that can facilitate disaster risk management processes.

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About the Natural Disaster Risk Management Program:

The Natural Disaster Risk Management Program (NDRM) is an initiative of the group of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (ACP), funded by the European Union (EU). The program supports disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA) activities in the CARIFORUM countries.

This initiative started in July 2014 and is being implemented by the Agency for Emergency Management and Disasters in the Caribbean (CDEMA), in collaboration with the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB, for its acronym in Spanish). English) and the Government of the Dominican Republic (DR).

The main objective of the Program is to contribute to the reduction of vulnerability to the impacts caused by natural disasters, including the damages related to climate change.

This Program seeks to strengthen the capacities of authorities and other organizations at the national, regional and community levels to carry out coordinated interventions and provide timely responses to the challenges imposed by natural disasters and the effects of climate change.

The Natural Disaster Risk Management Program, in synthesis

·         Launched in 2014 for a period of 5 years.

·         Financing: € 20 million

·         Partners: the European Union, the Caribbean Agency for Emergency and Disaster Management, the Caribbean Development Bank and the Government of the Dominican Republic.

·         Beneficiary countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.…