Caribbean forerunner to the new global disaster risk reduction framework

The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) launched its new Regional Strategy on Comprehensive Disaster Risk Management 2014-2024 which calls to strengthening of public-private sector partnerships within all sector groupings -including finance and economic development, physical and environmental planning) and integrating climate change adaptation into the risk management approach, in addition to its traditional stakeholder base composed by key sectors such as agriculture, tourism, health, civil society and education.

A new feature of the CDM 2014-2024 is the development of a Strategy Implementation Plan 2014-2024, currently under development. The Plan will not only guide interventions in the region at the national, regional and sectoral level, but will be the foundation for guiding investment in an improved Monitoring and Evaluation System.

Margareta Wahlström, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, and Head of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) highlighted during the launch of the CDM 2014-2024 strategy: “Business as usual does not work. We need to go beyond what we are doing now. The new CDM strategy will contribute to this effort.