Ladies and gentlemen, I very much welcome this opportunity to be part of this defining moment in regional disaster management intervention.

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1 REMARKS OF THE CDERA COORDINATOR AT THE LAUNCHING OF CADM PROJECT IN MESPO - ST VINCENT & THE GRENADINES St Vincent & the Grenadines, May 24, 2003 Ladies and gentlemen, I very much welcome this opportunity to be part of this defining moment in regional disaster management intervention. The community level focus of the CADM flood management is born of a philosophy that solicits paradigm shifts in critical areas of development thinking and practice. These are: 1

2 i Disasters reflect poor development choices ii Community vulnerability is a measure of social equity and access to resources. iii Comprehensive disaster management represents a medium for best practice participating development planning. It is against that background that CDERA has been championing the Regional Strategy and Results Framework for CDM and the process that resulted in its development. CDM makes the explicit point that development cannot be sustained in our region, unless we have 2

3 systems and institutions that focus on reducing the potential losses when hazards impact our communities. CDM recognizes that this link between disaster management and sustainable development requires the attention of all the agents and actors in development decision-making in our countries. It is not the sole responsibility of the Disaster Office. CDM also recognises that the sources of knowledge applied to managing community risks must include local knowledge and traditional wisdom. 3

4 For us therefore, CDM within the framework of sustainable development requires a balancing act between: i The knowledge of scientists, experts and consultants and that of the local people. ii Management of crisis and risk sensitive development. iii Technology transfer and the destruction of local coping capacity. The CADM project seeks to guide practice in our efforts to embrace the paradigm shifts I have referred to above. It utilizes scientific 4

5 expertise in the flood modelling and inundation mapping; community input in hazard identification and analysis and plan development; provides resources to support hazard mitigation activities and establishes a framework for the sharing of information and knowledge beyond the community. When we seek to understand why the damage and losses from St Vincent and the Grenadines was high for Lili, an event that was merely a storm, we may want to reflect on where we are in the paradigm shift. The following questions may be appropriate: 5

6 i How important is disaster management in the business of government? ii Is disaster management on the programming agenda of critical ministries and departments such as education, finance, planning, agriculture, works and tourism? iii What policies do we have to inform national commitment to disaster management? iv Is economic preparedness planning part of the development planning culture? 6

7 v How does the disaster management office and programme fear in times of austerity? I raise these questions because of my fear that as recession threatens, and advances in the Caribbean Community, the interest of high level decision-makers in disaster management and sustainable development may wain, if not disappear. It would be very unfortunate if this were so, especially when we need to build our resilience for frequent and extreme events associated with climate change and variation to reduce potential future losses. 7

8 Far too often we see these global concerns as distant or unimportant to us. However, I suggest you ask the local farmer about the changes in rainfall patterns, in insect types, weeds etc. My research among them twenty (20) years ago has convinced me that they are central to our monitoring and mitigation arrangements. We are here this evening to demonstrate our strong and deep belief in the capacity of the people of this community to improve their preparedness with appropriate assistance. I am confident that knowing your efforts and successes here will be important not only to 8

9 you but to how we carry this process forward in the nest of CARICOM, that you will give it your best effort. Finally I wish to thank JICA, for supporting this important regional initiative and our Management Team and Advisors for energizing the project implementation. I also wish to thank the government of St Vincent and the Grenadines for recognizing the importance of this integrated and comprehensive approach to flood management and providing the opportunity for piloting it in the Caribbean. 9

10 Not to be forgotten is the role of this community in planning and organising the event. Your efforts are highly appreciated and signal that good things are ahead. Jeremy Collymore Coordinator CDERA May 24,