Melissa Meade Represents Anguilla at Technical Advisory Committee meeting of CDEMA

Ms. Melissa Meade,Deputy Director of the Department of Disaster Management, is representing Anguilla at the first Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) Technical Advisory Committee Meeting (TAC) meeting at the Sheraton Nassau Beach Resort, in The Bahamas, from Wednesday, May 26 to Friday, May 29, 2010.

All costs for attendance are being covered by a grant from CDEMA.

TAC is being hosted by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in The Bahamas .

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. 

Content Courtesy of BIS