Montserrat will soon have a comprehensive disaster manager work programme, says the Disaster Management Coordination Agency (DMCA).
On Tuesday, DMCA officials said the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) in partnership with the University of the West Indies Disaster Risk Reduction Centre (UWI DRRC) will support Montserrat in developing its Country Work Programme (CWP).
The announcement was made during Montserrat’s CDM Audit National Validation Session held today at the DMCA offices in Yellow Hill.
DMCA Director Alvin Ryan said, “CDEMA’s commitment to promoting Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in the
region is commendable and is demonstrated in their agreement to support the development of a Country Work Programme on Montserrat. This will provide a clear path for Montserrat to strengthen our resilience, through tangible support and training opportunities.”
“The CWP is a major milestone for us, and we are thankful to CDEMA and the UWI DRRC for their continued support and assistance in advocating for a more resilient Montserrat. This aligns perfectly with the DMCA’s vision to facilitate and coordinate the development and implementation of a CDM programme,” added the DMCA Director.
The CDM Audit National Validation Session brought together key stakeholders on Montserrat, for a presentation of the findings of an audit exercise conducted over a 5-month period to assess the current systems and processes in place across the four phases of the Disaster Management Cycle—Mitigation, Preparedness, Response and Recovery.
The audit findings highlighted the disaster risk reduction strengths in Montserrat, as well as the gaps which should be addressed. During the session synergies as part of a Cross-Government Review were discussed, and recommendations on ways to strengthen Montserrat’s disaster risk reduction systems and processes were provided by the facilitators. The stakeholders also provided feedback on high level priority interventions they would like to see incorporated into the CWP.
The audit findings will now inform the development of the CWP for Montserrat which will be the national CDM road map over a three to five-year period aimed at reducing loss and vulnerability due to hazard events.
CDEMA partnered with the UWI DRRC to support the audit exercise in Montserrat. The data collection and reporting were undertaken by the UWI DRRC’s Technical Advisory Support and Services (TASS) Facility Members—Stacy Ann Austin, Viona Alexander-Smith, along with DMCA Focal Point, Kelvin White.
The audit serves as a standard setting tool for CDM in the Caribbean, and is being rolled out in several Caribbean islands, including Montserrat.
