Caricom Secretary-General Irwin LaRocque said the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency is “a regional champion and broker for comprehensive disaster management” in his message at the launch of the CDM’s Strategy 2014-2024 in Jamaica last Tuesday. Since its inception, the CDEMA played a sterling role as the Region’s premier organization for disaster risk management, he said, according to a press statement from the Caricom Secretariat.
“Due to the efforts of CDEMA, there is now political awareness and support for disaster management and in particular the CDM Strategy and Framework across the Region, which has to date been through two iterations, corresponding to two implementation periods” LaRocque said.
The secretary-general also used the opportunity to encourage support for CDEMA’s call to recognize the critical linkages between investment in the strengthening of the resilience of Caricom countries and communities and reducing social and economic losses from hazard impacts. He also urged participants to take ownership of the new CDM Strategy and to use the opportunity presented by the CDM Conference to participate in the development of an Implementation Plan that would guide the roll out of the Strategy and the achievement of the regional results therein.
