Director of NEMA Captain Stephen Russell addresses the Opening Ceremony of the Comprehensive Disaster Management Conference of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency at Melia on Monday, November 30. (BIS Photo/Kemuel Stubbs)
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NASSAU, The Bahamas – As the 2015
Atlantic Hurricane Season closes with at least two devastating storms impacting
the region, the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, CDEMA, is
seeking ways to build stronger communities to withstand natural or man-made
disasters.
This is being done through the Ninth
Caribbean Conference on Comprehensive Disaster Management under the theme: “The
Road to Resilience: Checkpoint 2015,” underway at Melia Nassau Beach Resort.
The conference, held in The Bahamas for
the first time, is staged by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA)
and the CDEMA,
November 30 to December 4, 2015.
Captain Stephen Russell, Director of
NEMA, in his welcome remarks underscored the importance of the conference being
held at the close of the Hurricane Season, and what the region has to live through
for six months of the year: “We, in the Caribbean basin and the Americas know
only too well what it is to live six months out of the year June 1 to November
30 -- looking over our shoulders wondering whether a storm is coming our way.
“Hence, the need to be ever ready as our
theme for this year’s Conference says: “The Road to Resilience – CDM Checkpoint
2015,” Captain Russell said.
He noted that the conference is being held
as The Bahamas recovers from the catastrophic, Category 4, Hurricane Joaquin,
which wreaked havoc on the Central and Southeast Islands in October.
“The damage was severe but thankfully,
there was no loss of life,” he said.
The conference is also being held as Dominica
is rebuilding their lives after the devastation caused by Tropical Storm Erika
in August killing more than 30 people. It is said to be the deadliest natural
disaster to hit that country since Hurricane David in 1979.
TOP: Audience at the Opening Ceremony of CDEMA Conference at Melia Nassau Beach Resort and d elegates touring the exhibition on November 30. --- BOTTOM: Eva Hilton Primary School Children give a choral rendition. (BIS Photos/Kemuel Stubbs)
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“We also meet as the world is focusing
on climate change -- the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in
Paris. The objective of that conference
is to negotiate a binding and universal agreement on climate, from all nations
of the world.
“So, this brings us to why we are here
under the theme: “The Road to Resilience: Checkpoint 2015,” which is viewed as
the first checkpoint for reporting on the progress made after two years of the
implementation of the 2014-2024 Caribbean Comprehensive Management Strategy as
we aspire towards the desired future state of regional resilience,” Captain
Russell said.
In looking at the Conference objectives
-- among them, to share the Monitoring, Evaluation and Review Framework for the
CDM Strategy and to facilitate knowledge exchange on pathways to resilience -- this
year’s Hurricane Season has certainly taught us that this is the way forward,
said Captain Russell.
“As the Conference creates a space for
reflection on the progress of CDM over the last 10 years, we must collectively
find ways to strengthen our systems, strategies, plans and pool resources
toward tackling these issues; a major component being inclusion and involvement
of our young people,” he said.
In this vein, the Youth Session
scheduled during the Conference is even timelier, as the region is aware that there
is ever-changing technology critical to monitoring and managing the level and
frequency of disasters that face Small Island Developing States. Furthermore,
the inclusion of young people in the field of disaster management goes
hand-in-hand with the fast-paced technology.
“There is so much to examine during this
Conference as we shape the way forward on the Road to Resilience. Our
individual countries depend on tailor-made programmes towards this resilience
and, collectively, the region needs a defined programme that would help
preserve the unique, geographical and environmental position we were created
in,” he said.
The opening ceremony was also addressed
by Ronald Jackson, Executive Director, CDEMA; The Hon. Adriel Brathwaite,
Chairman, CDEMA Council; The Most Hon. P J Patterson, former Prime Minister of
Jamaica; and the Hon. Arnold Forbes, Minister of State in the Ministry of Works
and Urban Development.
CDEMA presently comprises 18 Participating States:
Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Commonwealth of The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize,
Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Republic of Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica,
Montserrat, St. Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent & the
Grenadines, Suriname, Republic of Trinidad & Tobago, Turks & Caicos
Islands and the Virgin Islands.
Related:
State Minister Forbes Opens 2015 CDM Conference on Disaster Resilience