New ECLAC policy brief prepares Caribbean countries for natural disasters

Through the publication of a new policy brief, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) subregional headquarters for the Caribbean has identified strengths and weaknesses in the DRM strategies of member states and how these can be mainstreamed in development plans and policies.

The brief which is entitled `Mainstreaming disaster risk management (DRM) strategies in development instruments” and focuses on Barbados, Guyana, Saint Lucia, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago’. It presents policy recommendations to strengthen the role of DRM and to improve the use of resources through multisectoral projects aimed at building resilience to disasters and climate change. It also outlines the five pillars of DRM, namely risk identification, risk reduction, preparedness, financial protection, resilient recovery, and their applications to disaster assessments.

Additionally, given the susceptibility of Caribbean countries to climate change, the brief also considers possible linkages between climate change and disasters. It further highlights the urgency for countries to update their climate change adaptation and mitigation frameworks. While climate change policies do not necessarily address DRM, the measures proposed which are aimed at adaptation and mitigation of climate change impacts, could have positive effects on DRM.

This is the second publication of ECLAC on the mainstreaming of DRM strategies. In 2017, a similar document was published that focused on The Bahamas, Belize, Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica.