CEDERA Calls on Member Countries to Improve Disaster Management

Contact: Julita Peter

Friday, January 28, 2000 – Regional Coordinator of CEDERA Raymond Collymore says member countries need to find opportunities to improve their disaster management efforts. He says the process of programme development and stakeholders’ participation is critical. The CEDERA official made those comments whilst addressing a two-day workshop in St. Lucia, dubbed "An Evaluation and Analysis of 1999 in Preparation for the Year 2000 and Beyond".

According to Mr. Collymore, several other questions need to be addressed in order to determine the state of consensus that informs the programmes brought forward for regional consideration. He says these questions also suggest the extent of national commitment in their implementation..

"What happens during the last year that provides opportunities for improvement. Were our emergency systems operated. What lesson did we learn. Did we seek to learn or capture those lessons; and what implications do they have for operational planning, resource allocations and roles and responsibilities was it a human resource constraint or lack of policy? I am sure that the issue of the legal framework is something that needs to be addressed. We feel that it is a fundamental step that has to be addressed. What we are at now and what strategy we need to take to ensure that it gets passed the process of consideration."

Meanwhile National Disaster Preparedness Coordinator Timothy James states for the past two years the need to provide insurance security for disaster volunteers in the public and private sector has been a major item on disaster preparedness meetings. A tenders board comprising representatives from different committees has awarded a tender to Minville and Chastnet Insurance Brokers. The insurance policy will only cover Disaster volunteers against personal accidents.

"We are stating with 50,000 because we needed to have an idea of how much to budget for. It is quite possible that 50,000 could move to 100,000.00 based on the money available".

The insurance will also cover uniformed youth groups such as Boys Scout, Girls Guide, and Ambulance Brigade.

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