Bridgetown, Barbados, September 3rd, 2015 (CDEMA) - Development partners of the Eastern Caribbean Development Partners Group for Disaster Management (ECDPG/DM) are meeting today (Thursday, September 3) at the CDEMA Headquarters in Barbados to discuss the status of the humanitarian response to Dominica.
The ECDPG/DM is an integral part of the Regional Response Mechanism which is coordinated by the CDEMA. International assistance to CDEMA member States in the Eastern Caribbean that are affected by disasters is facilitated through this body.
This is the third meeting of the ECDPG/DM following the devastating effect of Tropical Storm Erika on Dominica. Immediately after news of the impact was known, the ECDPG/DM began mobilizing support and held its first meeting, Saturday, August 28th and a second meeting on Monday, August 31st.
These meetings seek to ensure that the response support meets the needs expressed by the Government of Dominica. They are also necessary for providing briefs on what each international partner and non CDEMA country is supporting as well as the regional agencies and governments of the CDEMA member states. This information helps to better inform the coordination of efforts in a timely an effective manner.
Executive Director of CDEMA, Ronald Jackson, who co-chairs the ECDPG/DM along with Stephen O’Malley the United Nations Resident Coordinator to Barbados and the OECS, was especially pleased with the coordination of the relief efforts.
He said, “We have been able to schedule pledged support and assets so that there is adequate attention to the needs as they emerge. We have managed to call on, and deploy regional and extra regional assets in an effort to ramp up on-the-ground relief efforts.”
The ECDPG/DM members, regional institutions and governments have been supporting Dominica through the deployment of personnel to assist in search and rescue, the health services, damage assessment and needs analysis among other areas; facilitation of transport for emergency response personnel, evacuation, shipment of relief supplies and provision of food, water and other relief supplies. Funds have also been made available to meet the immediate emergency relief needs.
Among the ECDPG/DM members who are expected to participate in the meeting today are representatives from the Canadian High Commission, Embassy of the United States of America, United States Agency for International Development/ Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/ODFA), European Union, United Kingdom Department for International Development (UK/DFID), International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Society (IFRCS) and several agencies of the United Nations (United Nations Development Fund (UNDP), Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and UN WOMEN). Also expected to attend will be representatives of the Dominica National Disaster Organization and regional institutions including Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), CARICOM Development Fund, CARICOM Secretariat, Barbados, Department of Emergency Management (DEM), the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH) and CDEMA.
CDEMA is the CARICOM agency that is responsible for the coordination of the response to Dominica. This includes management of the logistics arrangements in deployment of personnel, equipment and relief supplies.
Tropical Storm Erika impacted Dominica on August 27, 2015. Heavy and persistent rains resulted in severe flooding and landslides and widespread damage across the island. The Government of Dominica declared nine (9) communities as special disaster areas.