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CDEMA welcomed the Hon. Member of Parliament Emmanuel Dubourg, Government of Canada, on his courtesy visit to the CDEMA Coordinating Unit facilities on Tuesday February 18, 2020. His visit focused on the value added, which the support from the Government of Canada has brought to the operations within the CDEMA System. Canada has been providing financial and technical support to CARICOM Member States through the CDEMA CU in areas of building resilience to disasters and emergencies in the region and capacity building of CDEMA Participating States. He was provided with a briefing on the ongoing support provided by the Government of Canada and a tour of the facilities of the CDEMA Coordinating Unit. The Hon. Dubourg is attending the 31st Intercessional Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), from 18-19 February 2020.

Bridgetown, Barbados, February 18th, 2020 (CDEMA) - The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) conducted its annual ‘Exercise Region Rap’ with its Participating States and Regional Response Mechanism (RRM) partners on Tuesday February 18, 2020.

The Exercise was dubbed a success with 14 Participating States and 16 regional and international partners taking part, including development partners, CARICOM institutions and UN Agencies. In an effort to integrate youth participation and promote their involvement in Comprehensive Disaster Management (CDM), the exercise was executed with the support of student volunteers from the Queens College in Barbados.

Situation Overview:

According to the USGS, a 7.7 magnitude earthquake occurred at approximately 15:10 (AST) on January 28, 2020. The earthquake which occured at a depth of 10km was located north-north-west of Hanover, Jamaica and south of Cuba resulted from a strike-slip fault on the plate boundary between the North America and Caribbean tectonic plates.

Bridgetown, Barbados, January 24th, 2020 – In efforts to improve collaboration and coordination of information and data management among ministries and agencies before, during and after a disaster event, members of the national disaster management system in Barbados and given its role as a sub-regional focal point for the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) benefited from a data and information management training workshop, which was held on January 22-23, 2020.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS:

  • On 21 January 2020, The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus. Currently WHO IHR Emergency Committee is meeting to discuss possibility of declaring the outbreak A Public Health Emergency of International Concern
  • A PHEIC is declared if an extraordinary event poses a public health threat to other nations through the spread of disease and requires a more robust coordinated international response.
  • The risk of transmission to the Caribbean is LOW
  • WHO, CDC have assessed the risk level low but this may change in coming days based on international spread. 

St. Augustine, Trinidad & Tobago, December 9th, 2019 (UWI) – Dr. Joan Latchman, Seismologist at The UWI Seismic Research Centre (UWI- SRC), has received a regional award for her contribution to disaster management in the Caribbean. At a special ceremony during the 11th Caribbean Conference on Comprehensive Disaster Management in Maho, Sint Maarten, Dr. Latchman received the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) Council Award 2019 for her contribution to “knowledge management and learning for comprehensive disaster management”.

CUPECOY, Sint Maarten, December 5th, 2019 (CDEMA) – With a focus on improving the delivery of health care services in the Caribbean in times of disaster, leaders from the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) and the Caribbean Center for Disaster Medicine (CCDM) signed an agreement today to increase collaboration between the groups. The Honorable Silveria Jacob, Prime Minister of Sint Maarten, addressed attendees at the signing ceremony, speaking on the impact of Hurricane Irma and the importance of building resiliency.

Sint Maarten, December 4th, 2019, (CDEMA) - The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) along with the European Union launched the 11th EDF Natural Disaster Facility in the CARIFORUM Programme. This initiative aims to contribute to the reduction of the vulnerability to disaster risks, and to promote the sustainable development of the countries of this region.

  1. CRRKN takes a forensic approach to disaster recovery
  2. Bolstering the Region’s Readiness in Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems Policy and Practice
  3. CDEMA commemorates Tsunami Day 2019
  4. Saint Lucia improving its capacity to disseminate early warnings
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