Brades Montserrat, GIU --- 11 Dec., 2006 --- Information Officer at Montserrat’s Disaster Management Co-ordination Agency (DMCA) James White Jr. has joined other disaster management experts at the inaugural Caribbean Conference on Comprehensive Disaster Management in Barbados from December 11 to 14 2006.

He will also be attending the “Reducing Disasters and Community Preparedness” Knowledge Fair at the Hilton Barbados.

The Conference and Knowledge Fair both have as their theme “Building Resilient Communities Through Comprehensive Disaster Management”.

They are being organized by CDERA as a joint activity with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and with the support of several donor agencies and other partners including Humanitarian Aid Department of the European Commission (ECHO), Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), United States Agency for International Development/Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA), Price WaterhouseCoopers, the World Food Programme and The Mainstreaming Adaptation to Clamate Change (MACC) Project .

The Conference is designed to review and share experiences on complementary programmes and tools which have evolved to strengthen over five years of Comprehensive Disaster Management (CDM) implementation in the region, highlight best practices in disaster loss reduction and institutionalization of the process and assess the prioritized programme for disaster reduction in the Region within the context of the Caribbean Community Programme Framework 2005-2015.

The Reducing Disasters and Community Preparedness Knowledge Fair is being held in conjunction with the Conference with the financial support of ECHO through the DIPECHO Programme.

This public Fair will showcase through various mediums the hazards that threaten the Caribbean region and actions to reduce our vulnerability. The exhibition area, thematic sessions, negotiating tables and cultural activities will provide opportunities to show case tools and products and explore possible cooperation agreements on information sharing and knowledge transfer.

Delegates attending the conference are expected from CDERA Participating States, the wider Caribbean, Europe, Central and North America.

The Caribbean Strategy on CDM was launched in 2001 with the primary objective of providing a framework for structuring coordinated action towards disaster loss reduction. CDM is the accepted platform for transforming the disaster management landscape in the region from the traditional response mode to a proactive integrated disaster risk reduction approach enabling sustainable development in the Caribbean.