SWITCHing the focus from disaster management to disaster risk management is a critical move if the region is to improve its resilience to disasters.
Highlighting the importance and relevance of this message carried in the “Sendai Seven” campaign, the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) stated that planning is also required for the expected impacts of climate change, which can exacerbate disasters.
The Bank’s Vice-President of Operations, Patricia McKenzie, made the comments while the world marked International Day for Disaster Reduction yesterday, with the theme “Live to Tell”.
Speaking on the region’s recent experience with Hurricane Matthew – where in Haiti at least 1 000 people have died; while across other islands critical infrastructure has been destroyed – she insisted that the Caribbean “cannot afford to underestimate our vulnerability to natural disasters”.
The Bank has therefore outlined its own plans to improve disaster resilience.
“Here at CDB, we continue to emphasise climate resiliency in project design. We know that damage caused by natural disasters or the effects of climate change can undermine our goal of poverty reduction. So climate risk assessments and the use of related screening tools are now mandatory in the preparation of country strategy papers for each of our Borrowing Member Countries. We also continue to invest in climate-resilient infrastructure to reduce the impact of disasters on the poorest and most vulnerable members of Caribbean communities,” McKenzie said in a release.
She also insisted that such a stance be taken by all sectors and individuals.
“Although we have made great progress on disaster risk management and climate action, in partnership with our development partners and Governments, raising awareness about and reducing mortality caused by disasters requires strong commitment from all of us. Individually, we must ensure that we know what to do in the event of a disaster, and we must encourage our friends and family to pay attention to early warning systems. Only then will we be able to recover quickly as a region if disaster strikes, and ‘Live to Tell’,” McKenzie stated.
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