Regional Response Operations Standardised

This was announced by Ronald Jackson, Executive Director, CDEMA following the 6th Meeting of the Council on June 26 at the CDEMA Headquarters in Barbados where several model policies and proposals were tabled by the CDEMA Coordinating Unit for endorsement.

Among the model policies and proposals endorsed at the Meeting were, the National Policy on Incident Command, the National Evacuation Policy, the National Recovery Framework, the Information and Communications Technology Policy for CDEMA and a Proposal for the Financing of the Regional Response Mechanism.

In explaining the significance of these endorsements, Ronald Jackson, CDEMA Executive Director said, “We are ensuring that emergency response operations are more effectively managed at the national and regional emergency, particularly with regard to the coordination of efforts among the various response agencies. These policies reflect current thinking and globally accepted standards which have been specifically tailored to meet our Caribbean needs. By adopting and adapting these standards, we will be speaking the same language and following procedures that will make it easier for local and regional response teams to operate together when faced with an emergency or incident in any of the CDEMA Participating States.”

Adequate finances is key to ensuring that these policies are operationalised thereby allowing for more successful emergency response. In this regard, Jackson expressed his appreciation for the Council’s support to seek a grant of US $1 million through the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) to facilitate immediate deployment of the Regional Response Mechanism (RRM) teams when countries are affected by a major disaster. The RRM teams include: the Regional Search and Rescue Team, CARICOM Disaster Relief Unit (CDRU), Rapid Needs Assessment Team (RNAT), CARICOM Disaster Assessment and Coordination Team (CDAC) and CARICOM Operational Support Team (COST). Currently, the Emergency Assistance Grant which is available under a financing arrangement with CDB allows for a maximum of US$200 thousand to be accessed by an affected country and does not cover deployment of response personnel.

CDEMA’s Executive Director also drew attention to the Model Safe Schools Pogramme which was presented to the Council. This programme developed by CDEMA is designed to assist countries with implementing processes that will result in safer and greener educational facilities. The model policy provides guidance on construction and retrofitting of schools, assessing level of safety and greenness of schools and preparation and testing of emergency/disaster plans. This model programme was successfully piloted in several schools across the region and it is anticipated that with the endorsement of the CDEMA Council, the policy will be adopted by governments and Ministries of Education in the Participating States.

Other key matters that engaged the CDEMA Council at the meeting included reports on the2014-2017 Corporate Plan of the CDEMA Coordinating Unit and the associated budget, Country Centered Programming for the CDEMA Participating States and the Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Policy for the CDEMA System.

Jackson noted that it was important to present to the Council the operating budget to 2017, being cognizant of the current economic constraints of the member states and the need to consider well in advance the level of financial support required to sustain critical disaster risk reduction initiatives in the region.

The 2015 Meeting of the CDEMA Council was attended by 12 countries and chaired by the Honorable Adriel Brathwaite, Attorney General and Minister of Home Affairs, Barbados.

The Council is the highest level of governance of CDEMA and major decisions on its operations are also made as required by this body. The Council meets annually during the month of June. The Heads of Government or their designated representatives attend the annual Meetings.

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