PAHO has established the Caribbean 1 Health Disaster Risk Reduction (CHDRR) Committee. This approach is in keeping with the tremendous effort afoot in the Caribbean to harmonize and mainstream comprehensive disaster management (CDM).
The CHDRR committee acts as a forum for strategic discussion, bringing together partners on health and disaster, in a concerted effort to reduce disaster risks to the health sectors in the Caribbean. Specifically it will:
- Identify opportunities, challenges and gaps in achieving a satisfactory level of disaster resiliency in the Caribbean health sector, and develop strategies towards that end.
- Perform functions as the Comprehensive Disaster Management Health Sector Sub Committee
- Fulfil the monitoring and progress analysis requirements of health disaster risk reduction projects/programmes being implemented in the Caribbean.
- The committee will implement these functions through a symbiotic relationship with the existing coordination and monitoring mechanism for health disaster management in the region - the Health Disaster Coordinators.
The key functions of the committee include:
- Identify challenges and gaps regarding the implementation of health disaster risk reduction projects/programmes in the health sector;
- Identify opportunities for inter and intra sectoral linkages to avoid duplication of work and ensure efforts are complimentary;
- Agree on and utilize a mechanism for monitoring, evaluating and reporting on implementation of health disaster risk reduction projects/programmes in the health sector;
- Review health disaster risk reduction project/programmes results and adjust activities and indicators as necessary;
- Discuss and address any other issue(s) pertinent to the good governance and sustainability of health disaster risk reduction projects/programmes in the health sector;
- Nurture opportunities for synergies between development partner representatives, participating states, private sector, civil society and other relevant stakeholders responsible for implementing health disaster risk reduction projects/programmes in the health sector;
- Provide overall leadership and guidance for the mainstreaming, coordination and harmonization of CDM implementation in the health sector at the national and regional levels;
- Advocate and foster the achievement of priority results designed to mainstream comprehensive disaster management in the health sector;
- Function as the communication channel between the health sector and the CDM Coordination and Harmonization Council, reporting on the progress, issues (including governance) and recommendations form the CHDRR committee.
The CHDRR Committee comprise representatives from key specialized health sector agencies and technical representatives (HDCs) from the Ministries of Health in the Caribbean. The permanent members are PAHO, CDERA CU and at least two donor organizations, with additional members selected from each of the following clusters:
Overseas Territories | OECS Countries | Other Countries | Regional Health Institutions |
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Specifically, the CHDRR Committee comprise the following members for the next two years:
- PAHO
- CDERA CU Representative
- CIDA (Donor)
- DFID (Donor)
- CEHI
- Ministry of Health Representative from St Kitts & Nevis
- Ministry of Health Representative from Curacao
- Ministry of Health Representative from Trinidad and Tobago