The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), formerly known as the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA), has been able to make significant strides in its efforts to embrace the principles and practices of Comprehensive Disaster Management (CDM) in the Caribbean region.
Executive Director of CDEMA Jeremy Collymore who ends his stint with the organization on March 31st 2013, says the organization through the CDM, has been able to reduce the risk and loss associated with natural and technological hazards and the effects of climate change to enhance regional sustainable development.
Mr. Collymore who joined the organization twenty-one (21) years ago, is currently in Dominica on a special round up visit.
He spoke to the Government Information Service (GIS) in an exclusive interview.
“After twenty-one years of commitment to the agency, I think I had the opportunity to serve the region where we were able to translate an idea of a regional integration mechanism around response coordination, which was later elaborated to risk management cooperation”.
Mr. Collymore said the organization which was founded in 1991 with a primary responsibility for the coordination of emergency response and relief efforts to participating states has seen tremendous growth over the years.
“We were able to create the infrastructure and the architecture for an inter-governmental response coordination mechanism supported by a program of preparedness. We moved from a situation in 1991, when we started, where there were only four national disaster offices that were part time, to one now where we have a system including eighteen that are all full time and staffed, with disaster offices and emergency operation centers. We are also on the frontier of more engagement of the public and private sector entities as well as civil society”.
The CDEMA boss said the transition from a response and relief mode to a comprehensive approach to disaster management in 2009 can be described as another significant achievement under his watch.
“Equally important I think, is that we have been able to sell the message that disaster management is not about response, it is about managing development issues that have the potential to expose our rapidly growing population and especially urban centers. If nothing else has been achieved, the transition from a response type thinking to a development focus is a major achievement”.
Mr. Collymore noted that the Comprehensive disaster risk management strategy which was established in 2001 and revised in 2007 has become a global model for bringing stakeholders on board and supporting all sectors in the disaster risk management development.
Mr. Collymore confirmed that a number of partnerships around disaster risk management entities in the Caribbean region have been built. He said this has led to the development of a strategy to mobilize resources.
“For us in the Caribbean, it has allowed us and our partners to strategically prioritize commitment in the multi areas, in other words all the partners who are working in the Caribbean disaster management are now saying that based on the priorities identified by the region, these are the resources that we have available, so we have a strategy and a framework for mobilizing resources”.
He said much progress has been at the sector level.
“We have seen some significant progress at the sector level especially in health, education, agriculture and tourism. We have noticed that the ownership by the various sectors in developing their plans and training their entities has improved by leaps and bounds, which means that there is more ownership of these processes outside the disaster office”.
The establishment of the risk management parliament has been cited as another significant achievement by the CDEMA boss.
“The annual CDM Comprehensive disaster risk conference. This is the largest annual event of risk management practitioners in the Caribbean, which provides a space for us to showcase what has been done in the region, and to also share new policies that are on the way.”
He noted that climate change is likely to impact upon the small island developing countries resulting from disasters, reflected in the increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather events. This means there is a need for increased preparedness and response as well as mitigation capabilities within the regions.
He said CDEMA has been putting systems in place to address that issue.
“Within the CDEMA system we have developed some model instruments and legislation that takes into consideration the need to interface disaster risk management and development. We also have a model policy that provides that link between climate change adaptation, disaster risk management and development. We also have guidelines for a national disaster organization or system that is cognizant of these new demands and trends. We have gone as far as identifying some model job descriptions etc so that the burden of generating these infrastructures at the national level will be reduced.”
Mr. Collymore will vacate his position with CDEMA as Executive Director on March 31st, 2013. He plans to do consultancy work during his retirement.