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Bridgetown, Barbados, August 23, 2011 (CDEMA) – Developing “climate smart” comprehensive disaster management (CDM) programmes will be the focus of an interactive two-day workshop being held over the next two days, August 23-24, 2011, at the Department of Disaster Management, Tortola, Virgin Islands. The workshop is being convened by CDEMA and hosted by the Virgin Islands’ Department of Disaster Management through the support of the Austrian Development Agency’s funded, “Mainstreaming Climate Change into Disaster Risk Management for the Caribbean Region (CCDM)” project.  Global Climate change (GCC) is the most serious threat to sustainable development facing CARICOM States and it is on this tenet that “business as usual” disaster management must be up-scaled and enhanced to cope with the impacts of climate change.

One of the key activities of the workshop is the review of a Guidance Tool (G-Tool) being developed and tested under the CCDM Project. The G-Tool aims to provide practical guidance to the CDEMA Participating States (PS) on how to develop Climate Smart Work Programmes.

Participants will be expected to identify recommendations for its improvement and develop a draft Climate Change Adaptation mainstreamed (climate smart) CDM work programme for the Virgin Islands.

This workshop on Mainstreaming Climate Change Adaptation into the National CDM is based on a multi-sectoral approach to analyzing and prioritizing the issues for action. As such, in addition to the Department of Disaster Management, the lead stakeholder for the delivery of the Virgin Islands’ CDM Work Programme, it targets representatives of agencies with the responsibility for economic and social sectors which are also critical to the delivery of national work programme.  

The workshop also aims to build a shared framework of understanding about climate change and its impacts on the Virgin Islands (VI) among members of the informal multi –disciplinary, multi-sectoral network of stakeholders. It is also expected to identify existing and alternative adaptation options for the VI, capacities and adaptation measures for mainstreaming into the country Comprehensive Disaster Management Work Programme.

The “Mainstreaming Climate Change into Disaster Risk Management for the Caribbean Region (CCDM)” project seeks to strengthen regional, national and community level capacity for mitigation, management and coordinated response to natural and technological hazards and the effects of climate change.  A number of regional institutions, including the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC), the Caribbean Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH), the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRCS) and the Caribbean Policy Development Centre (CPDC) are key partners in the implementation of this project.

For more information, please contact
Nicole Alleyne
Programme Coordinator
Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA)
Bldg #1, Manor Lodge Complex
Lodge Hill, St. Michael, Barbados
Tel.No. 246-425-0386; Fax no. 246-425-8854
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.       Website: www.cdema.org