NASSAU, The Bahamas – The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) is hosting the first Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) meeting of the Caribbean Disaster Management Agency at the Sheraton Nassau Beach Resort, from Wednesday, May 26 to Friday, May 29, 2010.

It is the first meeting of the organisation since the transition from the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA) to the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) on September 1, 2009.

Captain Stephen Russell, director of NEMA said that NEMA is pleased to be hosting the first TAC meeting of CDEMA. He said as the region is facing “unprecedented” events in natural disasters, the meeting would provide an opportunity for countries to pool resources and design more effective ways relating to disaster mitigation.

TAC is a new organ under the governance mechanism of CDEMA. This Committee sets the tone for strengthening programme development and implementation.

 

CDEMA says that TAC is about embracing a full participatory approach to building synergies between the CDEMA Coordinating Unit and the 18 participating states in all aspects of the technical work programming from design to implementation.

 

Participants at the TAC meeting will dedicate significant time to examining the enabling environment in each country to deliver the Comprehensive Disaster Management (CDM) mandate. The CDM is an integrated and proactive approach to disaster management, which seeks to reduce the risk and loss associated with the natural and technological hazards and the effects of climate change to enhance regional sustainable development.

 

Elizabeth Riley, deputy director of CDEMA who has responsibility for programming said, “We are going to be discussing and looking for agreement on the way forward with respect to policy and legislation on disaster office structures, instruments and tools that we need, to monitor the progress of CDM at the national level.”

 

Also high on the agenda will be matters pertaining to the strengthening of CDEMA’s operational mechanisms to effectively function under the new mandate.

 

The meeting will also discuss guidelines to strengthen the operations of CDEMA’s Sub Regional Focal Point mechanism. Participants will use this opportunity to identify initial lessons learnt by the regional system through the recent Haiti earthquake event and the region wide drought.

 

A significant event during the meeting will be the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Pan American

Health Organisation and CDEMA on Thursday, May 27, 2010.

 

“This will broaden the scope to partner and support the mainstreaming of disaster risk reduction at national levels and promote its incorporation in the health sector within Caribbean countries,” Miss Riley said