Montego Bay, Jamaica, December 4th, 2012, (Panos) - In the first plenary session of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA)’s  7th Caribbean Conference on Comprehensive Disaster Management being   held at the  Hilton Rose Hall, Montego Bay, Jamaica from December 3rd – 7th, 2012,  a  High Level Panel Discussion with government ministers saw the sharing of  experiences in the challenges of disaster risk management under the topic “Repositioning Disaster Resilience in the Development Agenda.”

Montego Bay, Jamaica, December 4th, 2012, (Panos) - High in the Blue Mountains in Jamaica, Claverty Cottage and Clifton Hill are two adjoining remote communities, which were severely affected by Tropical Storm Nicole in 2010. Many roofs were damaged or completely blown off.

For this community, the application of the  Safer Houses methodology  resulted in homes still standing during subsequent weather events including Hurricane Sandy this year.

Montego Bay, Jamaica, December 4th, 2012, (Panos) - Post 2015 framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and CDM beyond 2012 consultation.

Ricardo Mena, Head of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR)  Regional Office for the Americas, states that key imperatives  for disaster management planners in the Caribbean region looking towards a post 2015 framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) lie in identifying and addressing existing gaps.
According to Mena, the repackaging of disaster mitigation to appeal more effectively  to national governments is also on the agenda.  ”Many people are suggesting that we should re-brand DRR  in a positive manner, so instead of talking about disaster, we talk about resilience building.”

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