Bridgetown, ÐÓ°ÉÐÔ°É, April 10th, 2015 (CDEMA) - The 6th Meeting of the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) will be held from 13th -17th April 2015 at the Baobab Towers, Warrens, ÐÓ°ÉÐÔ°É.
During the week, a key agenda item will be an orientation session for newly appointed National Disaster Coordinators of the Participating States to strengthen their understanding of the CDEMA system. The focus will be on the Comprehensive Disaster Management (CDM) Strategy and Framework 2014-2024; plans, protocols and supporting tools of the Regional Response Mechanism (RRM); and the modality for support of Country Centred Programming including access to the Country Directed Fund (CDF) and other aspects of the system.
Financial support is critical to the success of CDM programmes in the region and it is anticipated that there will be significant interest in the discussions on the CDF. This is a major component of a grant to CDEMA under the Intra ACP–EU Natural Disaster Risk Management in the CARIFORUM programme and available to National Disaster Offices for implementation of national and regional CDM Strategies. NDCs are expected to leave the meeting with a better understanding of how to access the fund through the CDEMA Coordinating Unit.
The Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) is an organ of the CDEMA Governance Structure which makes recommendations for the consideration of the CDEMA Council of Ministers. The meeting therefore reviews a number of policy documents and technical tools and makes recommendations for endorsements by the Council. Among the documents to be tabled at the 6th TAC Meeting are, a Model National Recovery Framework, A Model National Evacuation Plan, a Model Safe Schools Programme and a concept paper on the CDEMA Regional Training Centre.
Also on the agenda for discussion are various reports, including, national level readiness for the 2015 Hurricane Season, status of Caribbean preparations for the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016, outcomes of the World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction which was held in Japan, March 2015 and the implications for the CDEMA system.
A space will also be afforded to regional institutions including those that are members of the TAC to present their programmes that support the implementation of the CDM strategy. Institutions presenting at the 6th Meeting of the TAC will include, the Regional Security System (RSS), Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH), International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Caribbean Community Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS) and the Caribbean Development Bank.
The 6th Meeting of the TAC will be chaired by St. Vincent and the Grenadines.