Caribbean Disaster Risk Management Program - Knowledge Sharing

This project is a component of the Caribbean Disaster Risk Management Program which seeks to increase the capacity of national governments and local communities in the Caribbean to respond to and manage natural disasters such as hurricanes and floods and to reduce their impact on the people of the region. Specifically this project seeks to generate manage and share knowledge of comprehensive disaster management to inform the decision-making of governments local communities and the private sector in the Caribbean. To do this the project establishes an effective and collaborative mechanism for managing and sharing knowledge on comprehensive disaster management. Key activities include: (1) developing case studies on successful disaster risk reduction practices; (2) establishing a database of disaster events in the Caribbean; (3) organizing staff and student exchanges; and (4) developing online courses on comprehensive disaster management for business and the private sector. This project is part of Canada’s commitment to climate change action in developing countries. It is implemented by the Disaster Risk Reduction Centre of the Institute for Sustainable Development at the University of West Indies.

The expected intermediate outcomes for this project include: (1) a regional network that generates manages and shares knowledge on disaster management is established; (2) increased use of standardized training materials for university courses as well as courses for professionals private sector entities and others already employed in the field; and (3) enhanced access to mechanisms including tools courses and guidelines for mainstreaming comprehensive disaster management into policy development and decision-making for important economic sectors in the Caribbean.