Kingstown, June 12, 2019 – St. Vincent and the Grenadines – The annual CARICOM Disaster Relief Unit (CDRU) Training Workshop officially commenced in St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Monday June 10th hosted by CDEMA and the Regional Security System Headquarters (RSS HQ). Twenty-eight persons from military, fire and police operations in CDEMA’s Participating States will be trained for disaster response until June 18th.
In a press conference held on
May 31st, Executive
Director of CDEMA, Ronald Jackson said, “We’ve been really trying to build some
capacity over the past year and we’re confident that we’re improving in those
areas. At the regional capacity building level, we would have done training of
teams such as the Caribbean Disaster Relief Unit…we have a target we’re trying
to get to 250 persons trained and ready.” CDEMA in collaboration with regional
partners conducted two CDRU trainings in May and July of 2018. Thirty-three
(33) officers were trained in Antigua and 27 officers were trained in Barbados
respectively.
This year’s programme will
feature key sessions regarding Comprehensive Disaster Management, Emergency
Relief and Warehousing Management, the Relief Supply Tracking System and
Emergency Communications.
Participants will also engage
in the US SOUTHCOM EXERCISE TRADEWINDS 2019, Phase 2: Humanitarian Assistance
and Disaster Reduction (HADR) facilitated by the United States Southern Command
starting on Friday 15th June.
The training falls into the Regional
Coordination Plan where participants will be oriented to execute the three main
functions needed in a disaster environment. These are to:
· Providing
relief management support to national and regional authorities
· Provide
emergency telecommunications support the authorities of an impacted CDEMA
Participating State
· Provide
appropriate personnel for the restoration of critical lifeline facilities post
impact
Release: CDEMA
Photo Captions:
Header: Military, police and fire officers from across the CDEMA Participating States engage in discussion at the 2019/2020 CDRU Training Workshop in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Insert: Participants of the 2019/2020 CDRU Training Workshop engage testing a Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) during the emergency telecommunications exercise.