The Bahamas, through the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, is being represented at the 11th Caribbean Conference on Comprehensive Disaster Management (CDM) in Sint Maarten under the theme “The Road to Resilience Checkpoint 2019 – Safeguarding Our Communities, Livelihoods and Economies”.
The
Bahamas’ delegation is being led by Minister of State for Disaster
Preparedness, Management and Reconstruction the Hon Iram Lewis. He is
accompanied by Captain Stephen Russell, Director, NEMA; Carl Smith, Permanent
Secretary; Gayle Outten-Moncur, Acting Deputy Permanent Secretary, NEMA;
Lavelle Watson, NEMA; and Rolner Paul, an evacuee from Abaco and student of
Queen’s College, who participated in the Youth Forum.
Minister
Lewis participated in a Ministerial High Level Discussion on: “Safeguarding
communities, livelihoods and economies on the road to recovery”.
NEMA’s participation in CDM 11 comes on the heels of the passage of Hurricane Dorian through North Abaco and Cays and East Grand Bahama, leaving at least 70 people dead, hundreds in shelters, and massive destruction.
Since the hosting of the first conference in 2006, the event has gained recognition as the flagship event on the CDEMA Calendar and the premier Disaster Risk Management forum within the Caribbean region.
The conference has showcased best practices
emerging from CDEMA’s 18 Participating States, of which The Bahamas is a
member.
The conference has emerged as a platform for the engagement of political leaders, physical planners, meteorologists, climate change stakeholders, researchers, educators, and public and private financial experts as well as facilitated inter-stakeholder exchanges/networking and “birthing” of new policy ideas.
This year’s conference is from December 2-6. The objectives of CDM11 are to:
- Highlight
the progress in achieving Comprehensive Disaster Management (CDM) Strategy
Results 2014-2024
- Showcase
opportunities for protecting livelihoods and economies within various
communities
- Promote
youth empowerment in safeguarding our communities, livelihoods and
economies
- Identify
lessons from past events and opportunities to inform future resilience
- Facilitate
exchanges and knowledge sharing on CDM related research, tools, models,
products, information and educational materials
- Promote
understanding of the Resilience Framework adopted by CARICOM Heads of
Government
- Promote
the goals of and build commitment for Comprehensive Disaster Management
(CDM).
Release: NEMA
Photo Captions:
Header: The National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, at the 11th Caribbean Conference on Comprehensive Disaster Management (CDM) from December 2-6, 2019 in Sint Maarten under the theme “The Road to Resilience Checkpoint 2019 – Safeguarding Our Communities, Livelihoods and Economies”. Pictured from left are: Captain Stephen Russell, Director, NEMA; Minister of State for Disaster Preparedness, Management and Reconstruction the Hon Iram Lewis; Rolner Paul, an evacuee from Abaco and student of Queen’s College, who participated in the Youth Forum; Carl Smith, Permanent Secretary; Gayle Outten-Moncur, Acting Deputy Permanent Secretary, NEMA; and Lavelle Watson, NEMA.
Insert: Minister of State for Disaster Preparedness, Management and Reconstruction the Hon Iram Lewis Minister Lewis participating in a Ministerial High Level Discussion on: “Safeguarding communities, livelihoods and economies on the road to recovery”. He is leading the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA at The 11th Caribbean Conference on Comprehensive Disaster Management, in Sint Maarten, December 2-6, 2019. Mr Lewis is pictured second right.
(PHOTOS/CDEMA)