Cdema Chief – By Kisean Joseph
Cdema Chief Hails New
The head of the region’s disaster agency has praised Antigua and Barbuda’s new five-year resilience framework as a roadmap for protecting lives and livelihoods.
Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) Executive Director Elizabeth Riley made the remarks at the signing of the country’s Country Work Programme, attended by senior government officials and regional partners.
Riley described the programme as far more than an operational plan, calling it the national strategic framework for advancing comprehensive disaster management across every sector of society.
“It reflects a clear national vision and commitment to protecting lives, livelihoods, infrastructure and development gains from the impacts of natural and man-induced hazards,” she said.
She warned that the risk landscape facing Caribbean nations continued to evolve, pointing to recent hurricanes, earthquakes, sargassum proliferation and oil spills as reminders that climate change demanded a proactive and coordinated approach.
Building resilience in such an environment required more than short-term measures, Riley said. It called for strategic, medium to long-term planning, informed decision-making and the collective effort of government, communities, the private sector, civil society, academia and development partners.
The CDEMA head said she was particularly pleased that the programme had been developed through a whole-of-government approach, helping to ensure national ownership and positioning disaster risk management as a shared responsibility.
She noted that the framework aligns the country’s priorities with the Regional Comprehensive Disaster Management Strategy 2014 to 2030 and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015 to 2030, strengthening the link between national action and wider regional and global goals.
The programme was developed with funding provided by CDEMA under the Building Resilience of CARIFORUM States project, with support from the European Union. Riley extended appreciation to the European Union for its continued partnership in strengthening resilience across the region.
She also commended the Government of Antigua and Barbuda, the National Office of Disaster Services (NODS) and the stakeholders whose technical expertise had produced what she called a practical and forward-looking framework to guide disaster management for the next five years.
Riley confirmed she had raised the programme with Cabinet, securing assurances of full support for its implementation.
Minister of State within the Ministry of Social and Urban Transformation, Kiz Johnson, attended the signing along with Permanent Secretary Sarah Stuart and NODS Deputy Director Craig Cole. Also present were European Union representative Virginie Andre and CARIFORUM Director General Alexis Downes-Amsterdam.
Cole said the twin-island state had long supported displaced persons at home and across the region, recalling that thousands had been received from Montserrat, Barbuda, Dominica and other territories over the decades. He said the programme would help coordinate efforts, mobilise resources and monitor progress towards the country’s resilience objectives.
The ceremony also featured a presentation on a proposed purpose-built emergency shelter, part of a Cabinet mandate to move away from relying on schools and churches during disasters. Architect Colin John Jenkins outlined a leaf-inspired design with a capacity of around 500 persons, built to withstand a category five hurricane and to operate off-grid.
Riley reaffirmed CDEMA’s commitment to supporting Antigua and Barbuda in delivering the programme and achieving its resilience goals, saying the partners were together building safer communities and a more secure future.