Source : http://www.haitipressnetwork.com par Christian Jr Desrameaux
Plus qu’une simple trousse de communication et de plaidoyer pour la gestion des risques et des désastres en Haïti, le DVD présenté par l’Oxfam GB et des institutions partenaires à l’Hôtel Montana le 7 mai est un véritable document de référence.
La coordinatrice du projet, Mme Coffey Charity, a fait une présentation détaillée du DVD duquel elle a retracé l’historique, tout en insistant sur l’importance capitale que revêt le document pour mieux coordonner les interventions en cas de risques et de désastres. Le travail s’est étendu sur 2 mois et demi et la trousse regroupe environ 229 outils : documents, affiches, dépliants, manuels de formation, cartes géographiques, spots radiophoniques et télédiffusés, des documentaire et des photos. Pas moins de 21 institutions sont représentées dans la trousse qui a été réalisée avec la collaboration de 30 associations, a précisé Mme Charity
L’exposé de Mme Charity a été précédé des propos de M. Roosevelt Compère, coordonnateur de prévention à la direction de la protection civile et de M. Amédée Maresco, représentant de l’Oxfam GB. Ces derniers ont fait l’éloge du document présenté comme un travail original préparé conjointement par l’Oxfam GB et le comité thématique éducation et sensibilisation du public, une branche spécialisée du secrétariat permanent de la gestion des risques et des désastres. Le DVD réunit sous un seul support l’essentiel des outils déjà développés dans ce domaine depuis plus de 10 ans et servira à atténuer les conséquences des désastres naturelles sur la vie des habitants de ce pays.
La trousse a été faite sous forme de DVD pour faciliter l’accès aux informations. Son utilisateur n’aura pas besoin d’une connexion internet pour la consulter.
Il s’agit de la première édition du document a précisé Mme Coffey Charity qui annonce que d’autres chapitres y seront ajoutés, par exemple sur les changements climatiques, la santé publique liée à la gestion des risques et des désastres et sur la façon de rebâtir après les désastres. Cette partie sera d’autant plus utile et permettra aux responsables du gouvernement de mieux gérer les fonds débloqués d’urgence pour venir en aide aux populations affectées - (près de $ 200 millions HT pour la dernière saison cyclonique) - .
Le DVD n’a pas été distribué à tous les participants lors de la cérémonie de lancement, mais la coordonnatrice du projet annonce sa diffusion à grande échelle dans les jours à venir.
| Source: http://www.caribbeannetnews.com |
| BASSETERRE, St Kitts (SKNIS) -- The Caribbean Region and Central America are better prepared to deal with natural or man made disasters, after successfully completing the latest round of training and evaluation under the Allied Forces Humanitarian Programme (FAHUM). The annual exercise, which is typically held prior to the start of the hurricane season, saw disaster simulations being staged in Antigua, Grenada, Honduras and Costa Rica in this instance. The mobilization of emergency personnel and resources, and their use, were evaluated by representatives from the 25-country body who spent the past two days in St Kitts for the After Action Review session. Andria Grosvenor of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA) explained that the exercise in Grenada focused on the threat of a tsunami. A model with warning protocols has been developed and is to be piloted in four countries. A guide was also produced to allow easier adaptation in other countries. In Antigua, an earthquake simulation caused major damage including the collapse of a four storey building. “We were able to mobilize the Regional Security System (RSS) [whose] military troops will lend support for areas related to security,” she revealed. “We were also able to mobilize the CARICOM Disaster Relief Unit, as well as search and rescue teams from St Kitts and Nevis and Barbados.” Emergency personnel from Jamaica and Dominica were placed on standby in this exercise. In a case of life imitating art, the region is better prepared to handle the current threat posed by the H1N1 virus, commonly known as swine flu. Colonel Eric Rose of the United States Army disclosed that one of the first scenarios held earlier this year dealt with the spread of a pandemic influenza from South America, into Central America and then the Caribbean. Inter-agency communication, warning alerts and health officials were involved in controlling the outbreak. The CDERA official stressed that this exercise and the subsequent review was extremely timely and will be useful as authorities brace for the possible entrance of the H1N1 virus into the Region. Lieutenant Colonel Patrick Wallace of the St Kitts-Nevis Defence Force noted that the Federation has benefited from its association with FAHUM as it has provided networking opportunities, information sharing and best practice models that serve to raise the skill of local emergency and rescue officials. FAHUM is a US Southern Command-sponsored multinational exercise that concentrates on improving how civilian, government and military agencies from the United States, the Caribbean and Central America respond to natural disasters in the region. |
Source : http://www.cdera.org
Bridgetown, Barbados, April 6, 2009, (CDERA) - The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA) and the University of the West Indies (UWI) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Thursday, April 2, at the Cave Hill Campus in Barbados.
Jeremy Collymore, Coordinator of CDERA, said “the signing represents a commitment to re-establish, strengthen and formalize a partnership of engagement between the UWI and the CDERA disaster management community towards building resilient communities.”
“The CDERA/UWI MOU also reflects our commitment to building strategic alliances with regional organizations and institutions around the goal of the Comprehensive Disaster Management Strategy and Programme whose purpose is to strengthen regional, national and community level capacity for mitigation, management and coordinated response to natural and technological hazards and the effects of climate change,” Collymore added.
In particular, this partnership will establish mechanisms to strengthen the acquisition, management and dissemination of comprehensive disaster management knowledge in the Caribbean, as required under Priority Outcome Two of the CDM Strategy.
Signing of this agreement with the UWI signals the expected leadership of UWI in advancing the process of mainstreaming disaster management in the education sector.
“The UWI’s responsibility is much larger than educating and graduating students, and it needs to respond in more comprehensive ways to the challenges that exist in our societies, such as natural hazards. It is important that institutions such as ours respond to dangers that are present in our societies. We have more than 100 academics, in more than 30 sectors, who are capable of responding in event of a natural hazard, and who need to be hooked up to agencies such as CDERA,” said the Vice Chancellor, Professor E. Nigel Harris, at the signing of the MOU.
The University’s Disaster Risk Reduction Centre, which is headquartered at the Mona Campus in Jamaica, is seen as the key medium for developing the infrastructure that will deliver disaster related knowledge training, education, research and policy design to respond to the institutional capacity needs of the CDERA Participating States. Other key aspects to be advanced by this partnership include: collaborating with other regional educational and research institutions to develop a region wide network of disaster risk reduction centres of excellence; and the standardization of disaster risk reduction training, delivery and certification.
The partnership will also facilitate the provision of services and expertise to support damage assessment and recovery planning following disasters in CDERA Participating States.
For information on CDM programme please go to:
http://www.cdera.org/doccentre/publications/CDMStrategyandProgrammeFramework2007-2012.pdf
Source : Oxfam
Depuis décembre 2007 Oxfam-Solidarité mène un projet de préparation aux catastrophes naturelles en Haïti. Plus de 300.000 habitants de la ville de Cap-Haïtien devraient profiter de cette action.
Protections naturelles en péril
Comme toutes les îles des Caraïbes, Haïti est régulièrement la proie de cyclones, d'ouragans, de pluies diluviennes ou de tremblements de terre. Cette exposition s'avère particulièrement critique dans la ville de Cap-Haïtien, au nord du pays. En effet, à cause de la croissance démographique galopante et de l'urbanisation incontrôlée de cette ville, une pression intense s'exerce sur les ressources naturelles qui servent de protection face aux risques naturels.
Ainsi, pour pouvoir multiplier les logements, la population de Cap-Haïtien a remblayé les mangroves et les marécages avec des déchets, alors que ces zones servaient traditionnellement de barrières naturelles face à la rivière qui traverse la ville. De même, les forêts des flancs montagneux ont été rasées pour laisser place aux habitations. Construites en dehors de toute norme minimale de sécurité, les maisons se retrouvent aujourd'hui perchées sur des pentes très raides, totalement dénudées et donc extrêmement propices à l'érosion, aux éboulements et aux glissements de terrain.
Résultat : les populations de ces zones souffrent aujourd'hui d'une vulnérabilité très élevée face aux catastrophes naturelles à répétition.
Actions et résultats
Pour réduire les risques encourus par les habitants de Cap-Haïtien, Oxfam-Solidarité et Oxfam Grande-Bretagne ont donc décidé d'unir leurs efforts et de préparer les communautés à faire face efficacement aux catastrophes naturelles.
Avec l'appui de la Direction générale de la Coopération au Développement du gouvernement belge (216.000 euros de subside), ce projet vise à mettre en place des comités municipaux et locaux de protection civile, à les former à la réduction des risques (analyse, élaboration de cartes, systèmes d'évacuation, premiers secours...), à les équiper pour les actions d'urgence (kits de soins, torches, radios, cordes, brouettes, outils, gilets de sauvetage...) et à les impliquer dans des projets de réduction des risques : construction de murs de soutènement, de systèmes de drainage, protection des berges...
D'une durée de 18 mois, ce projet doit atteindre 3 résultats concrets d'ici juin 2009 :
-renforcer l'organisation et la coordination de trois comités locaux et d'un comité local de protection civile;
-améliorer la réponse des populations face aux risques potentiels : séances d'information communautaires, formation d'animateurs volontaires, publication de brochures, création de spots radios, de pièces de théâtre, mise sur pied d'une conférence...
-réduire la vulnérabilité physique aux inondations et aux glissements de terrains dans les zones les plus à risque.
Au total, près de 300.000 habitants de 22 zones à haut risque de Cap-Haïtien devraient bénéficier de ce projet.
| Source : Caribbean Net News | |
| LONDON, England: In 2008 natural disasters cost the world US$200 billion. Global maps, produced by risk specialists Maplecroft, show the United States and China to bear about 90% of this burden and be the countries most susceptible to economic losses. In terms of GDP, small island developing states are most at risk, including Montserrat, Cayman Islands, Grenada, Bermuda and St Lucia. The Maplecroft maps show several countries of high geopolitical and business interest to be ranked in the top ten most at risk of climate change related disasters, including Bangladesh, Sudan, Mozambique, Haiti, Djibouti and the Philippines. Whilst the human impact of natural disasters is predominantly concentrated in developing countries, with 90% of deaths occurring in these regions, the increase in both frequency and severity of climate related disasters is increasingly impacting upon developed and emerging economies including China. So far this century, more than 800,000 people have been killed by natural disasters, more than 2 billion have been affected, and damage costs total over US$800 billion. Whilst disasters such as earthquakes and hurricanes can not be prevented, we can reduce the risk they pose to business and society by reducing our vulnerability. We can do this by mapping and assessing the risk, being better prepared and responding more effectively when potentially disastrous natural events occur. Critical to this task is the availability of systematic knowledge and analysis. Maplecroft has produced a new series of global maps of natural disaster risk for 2009. The maps and indices cover 208 countries and support efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change and natural disasters on communities and economic activity. Four sets of maps explore: 1) All natural disasters 2) Hydro-meteorological disasters 3) Geophysical disasters 4) Economic losses due to natural disasters Each map uses a unique index to measure disaster risk in each country. The maps are supported with background explanation and comprehensive analysis as well as discussion of how business can engage in natural disaster preparedness and response, supported by case studies of business engagement including in China and the United States. Maplecroft is the definitive and only source of quantitative and comprehensive "extra-financial" and global risks indices, maps and data. This includes human rights, political risk, government risk, climate change, resource security, health and other areas of macroeconomic and societal risk. |
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Source : Journal de l'environnement
Réforme des installations classées pour la protection de l’environnement (ICPE), émissions de mercure des producteurs de chlore, échec de la loi Risques post-AZF (1)… L’actualité liée aux activités industrielles mécontente la fédération France nature environnement (FNE) qui a boycotté mardi 3 mars la réunion du Conseil supérieur des installations classées (Csic) au Meeddat. Et appelé à la convocation d’états généraux consacrés aux risques industriels.
Cet appel a été entendu par le Meeddat. «Nous avons souhaité aborder toutes les questions posées par le risque industriel en proposant à Sébastien Genest, président de FNE, -qui l’avait suggéré-, la tenue prochaine d'une table ronde», a déclaré la secrétaire d’Etat à l’écologie Chantal Jouanno lors d’un déplacement à l’Institut national de l’environnement industriel et des risques (Ineris) à Verneuil-en-Halatte (Oise).
Thématiques et modalités de la table ronde seront précisées dans les semaines à venir, selon le communiqué du Meeddat.
(1) Dans le JDLE «Troisième régime ICPE: les députés laissent carte blanche au gouvernement»; «Alerte sur les émissions de mercure des producteurs de chlore»; «Après-AZF: la loi Bachelot sur les risques industriels difficile à appliquer»
Source :The Barbados Advocate
By Alicia Dells
Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is set to play a more critical role in the disaster management process for Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA) member states.
This is being made possible through the implementation of a Web-based Emergency Operation Centre (WebEOC), which is expected to be up and servicing the region in the near future.
Last Friday, 36 disaster management and information technology professionals from all 16 CDERA states concluded a one-week training workshop in the use of a WebEOC at the Grand Barbados Resort.
The training was made possible through a recently signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between CDREA and the United States Southern Command (US SOUTHCOM) Humanitarian Affairs Division which is also providing US$ 1 million to assist in the introduction of this initiative.
Delivering an address at the closing ceremony for the training workshop, Dr. Brent Hardt, Charge d’Affaires, United States Embassy said that the United States is always pleased to offer their support and assist the region in finding viable solutions to address regional challenges.
He outlined that the threats posed by natural disasters are a reality within the Caribbean and therefore it is imperative that proper channels are in place to facilitate contact between disaster management officials from the various countries.
“The ability to maintain contact with disaster relief co-ordinators, relief agencies and civil authorities from other countries during the course of a humanitarian crisis can be the difference between quick recovery and chaos, between saving lives and disaster,” he asserted.
Giving some insight into the role that the WebEOC will play once it is brought to fruition, Dr. Hardt explained:
“Once this Web-based information management infrastructure is fully operational, it will facilitate more effective communication and co-ordination among the CDERA Co-ordinating Unit, affected countries and supporting agencies through real time sharing of critical information. This means that high level decision makers, emergency managers and first responders will have access to up-to-the-minute intelligence on the nature and exact location of disasters, as well as other critical details to inform emergency operations. This will help [to] make disaster management truly a Caribbean-wide effort,” he stated.
Jeremy Collymore, the co-ordinator of CDERA described the initiative as timely and useful. He highlighted that the WebEOC technology has the potential to permanently eliminate traditional communication gaps associated with disaster events in the region.
“It (WebEOC) also lays the infrastructure for a significant transformation in how we define and articulate the operational procedures that inform the management of the emergency operations centre. From that point of view what you have learnt here is only the initial ingredients in a dramatic change in how we plan, manage and recover from hazard events that impact our communities. It requires a commitment to the use of ICT in our regular operations and a willingness to update the many dated disaster plans among our participating states,” Collymore told those present at the closing ceremony.
He added that through support from the Government of Austria, CDERA was looking towards ways of addressing the capacities of the sub-region operational focal points to make them key agents of change within this transformational agenda.
“We are very cognisant that the realities of our hazardous environment when placed against the context of the implications for climate change require that we urgently address our capacities and capabilities to deal with more and frequent extreme events.
“This engagement therefore, must be taken on board with the significance it brings both for our ability to better utilise ICT for effective day to day operations and response, as well as to prepare ourselves for the consequences of the vagaries associated with global warming and seas level rise,” he outlined.
Expressing gratitude to the Government of the USA and US SOUTHCOM, the CDERA co-ordinator lauded both for being ‘proactive’ in providing support for this important project.
The WebEOC hardware and software is currently being installed and the initial test for this system will be during the US SOUTHCOM funded Fuerzas Aliadas Humanitarians (FAHUM) exercise to be held in the Caribbean sometime in April. The primary server for the WebEOC will be housed in Barbados, and the system is expected to be available for use during the 2009 hurricane season when further testing will take place. It is expected that all CDERA states will be fully online by the end of 2010.
Bridgetown, Barbados, (CDERA) - Thirty-six (36) disaster management and information technology professionals from all sixteen (16) CDERA States received training this week, in the use of a Web based Emergency Operation Centre (WebEOC) at the Grand Barbados Hotel.
This is another step in using information technology to improve decision making that can save lives, property and livelihoods during emergency events in the Caribbean. The WebEOC system has the capacity to connect with multiple users and reach across remote locations and jurisdictions in the CDERA community.
At the closing of this CDERA - United States Southern Command (US SOUTHCOM) WebEOC Training, Jeremy Collymore, Coordinator of CDERA said, “the WebEOC Technology is both timely and useful in the sense that it provides an information and communication technology platform that has the potential for permanently eliminating traditional communication gaps associated with disaster events in this part of the world.”
Once this Web based information management infrastructure is fully operationalised, it will facilitate more effective communication and coordination among the CDERA Coordinating Unit, affected countries and supporting agencies through real time sharing of critical information. This means, that high level decision makers, emergency managers and first responders will have access to up-to-the-minute intelligence on the nature and exact location of disasters, as well as other critical details to inform emergency operations.
Dr. Brent Hardt, Charge d’Affaires, Embassy of the United States of America to the Eastern Caribbean, who also spoke at the closing ceremony said, “the training was made possible through a recently signed Memorandum of Understanding between the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA) and the United States Southern Command (US SOUTHCOM) Humanitarian Affairs Division which is providing a US$1 million to implement the Web Emergency Operation Centre (WebEOC) initiative. The United States hopes that this Centre will be a valuable tool in ensuring that essential assets and personnel are able to deploy to the places where they are most needed.”
The WebEOC hardware and software is currently being installed at the national disaster offices and the initial test for WebEOC will be during the US SOUTHCOM funded Fuerzas Aliadas Humanitarias (FAHUM) exercise to be held in the Caribbean in April 2009. The first stage of this exercise will test the communications capacity of the CDERA Regional Response Mechanism for pandemic influenza.
WebEOC will be available for use during the 2009 hurricane season where it will be further tested and it is expected that the system will be fully operational in all CDERA States by the end of 2010.
Note: The 16 CDERA Participating States are: Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Lucia, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago and Turks & Caicos.
Source : Journal de l'environnement
Le 23 février, la Commission a adopté deux rapports stratégiques relatifs aux catastrophes naturelles, l’un sur la prévention dans l'Union européenne (UE) et l’autre sur la réduction des risques dans les pays en développement.
Le nombre et la gravité des catastrophes naturelles et d’origine humaine se sont accrus dans l’UE entre 1990 et 2007, une tendance qui devrait s’amplifier avec le changement climatique. Le premier rapport propose une stratégie communautaire de prévention des catastrophes, inexistante aujourd’hui.
Le second rapport vise à instaurer un cadre pour orienter le soutien accordé par l’UE aux pays en développement pour la réduction des risques de catastrophes. Il s’inscrit dans la mise en œuvre du cadre d'action de Hyogo (1) et la réalisation des Objectifs du millénaire pour le développement (OMD). L'UE s’est fixé l'objectif de porter l'aide publique au développement à 0,56 % du PNB d'ici 2010.
(1) adopté lors de la conférence mondiale sur la prévention des catastrophes en 2005 au Japon
Une résolution européenne sur les catastrophes naturelles
Le point sur la réforme de la loi sur les catastrophes naturelles
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The purpose of this program is to strengthen international partnerships and consolidate emerging networks among academic researchers from Canada and Latin America and the Caribbean. It is designed to support small collaborative research activities which will contribute to the creation, dissemination and sustained application of knowledge in the development process in at least one area of IDRC thematic priority. Value: Support through this program will be cost-shared on a 2:1 ratio by the program and the partner institutions, respectively. The maximum value of each grant under this program will be $15,000 CDN. Deadline: November 30, 2008. 2008 Program guidelines:
For more information contact:
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