Grenada

Following one of the most devastating hurricane seasons in recent history, a four-year initiative launched to help Caribbean islands prioritize and invest in natural ecosystems that reduce their risks from climate related disasters.

Santo Domingo – La creciente intensidad y frecuencia con que se experimentan los desastres en el Caribe y, por lo tanto, un flujo migratorio regional intenso, demuestran la necesidad crítica de mejorar la gestión del riesgo de desastres.

by OECS

A SERIES OF WHITEBOARD ANIMATIONS ARE BEING AIRED THROUGHOUT THE REGION.

The OECS Get Creative with Climate Change and Sustainable Land Management GCCA iLAND Resilience Project, is launching a major climate change and sustainable land management awareness initiative in the form of whiteboard animations.

OVERVIEW

• Countries in the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region experience a range of natural hazards, including droughts, earthquakes, floods, forest fires, hurricanes, landslides, tsunamis, and volcanoes. El Niño and La Niña phenomena occur periodically, exacerbating the impacts of hydrometeorological events in the LAC region. Unplanned urban expansion, environmental and natural resource degradation, and land-use management challenges also increase populations’ vulnerability and exposure to natural hazards.

In brief

Several countries have disaster risk management plans, which need to be taken into consideration in the process to formulate and implement NAPs.

• Many Caribbean countries have already mainstreamed adaptation into national development plans and climate change policies

• Robust institutional arrangements provide an enabling environment for advancing adaptation planning.

1.1 Background

Contributing to more effective risk management of crises and disaster in Latin America and the Caribbean

INTRODUCTION

The 2018 version of the Index for Risk Management for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC-INFORM) has been launched at the beginning of this year. LAC-INFORM 2018 is an update of LAC-INFORM 2017, the first version of this regional index.

They say it takes a village to raise a child, but what does it take to raise a village into a tsunami-ready community? In 2017, the Caribbean Tsunami Information Centre (CTIC) of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) made considerable progress to improve early warning systems, public awareness and preparedness in the region thanks to a €80,000 contribution from the Kingdom of Netherlands.

Key points

• The increasingly frequent occurrence of natural disasters due to climate change put the debt sustainability and socioeconomic stability of vulnerable developing countries at risk.

• The international community should review and enhance the tools available to such countries to maintain debt sustainability and mobilize resources for climate change adaptation and developmental transformation.

Countries in the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region are highly vulnerable to a range of natural hazards, including droughts, earthquakes, forest fires, floods, hurricanes, and volcanic eruptions. Between FY 2008 and FY 2017, USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/ OFDA) and USAID’s Office of Food for Peace (USAID/ FFP) provided humanitarian assistance in response to a diverse range of emergencies in the region.

Monday, December 18, 2017 — Twenty representatives of Governments of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States participated to the Third OECS Assembly held in Antigua and Barbuda and honoured by the presence of the President of Cuba President Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz.

By Sophie Hares

TEPIC, Mexico, Dec 13 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A group of Caribbean nations, many devastated by recent hurricanes, will work with companies, development banks and other organisations to curb damage from climate change and grow cleanly, under an action plan launched this week.

December 12, 2017, PARIS – Recent hurricanes have left unprecedented devastation across the Caribbean and it is a traumatic time for all those who live in the region. Whole communities and towns have been decimated, and the global community needs to act quickly and give generously to relieve suffering and help to rebuild. Alongside the on-going emergency response, Caribbean leaders today announced the launch of a new public-private coalition to create the world's first "climate-smart zone".

CARICOM Media Release

Thursday, October 26, 2017 — CARICOM and Mexico, which both recently suffered devastating natural disasters, have agreed to strengthen cooperation in disaster risk management.

The agreement forms part of a Joint Declaration issued at the end of the Fourth CARICOM-Mexico Summit held in Belize on Wednesday 25 October 2017 under the joint chairmanship of CARICOM Chairman, Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell of Grenada and the President of Mexico, Enrique Pena Nieto.

By Julio Berdergué, FAO Regional Officer for Latin America and the Caribbean, and Pablo Aguirre, technical advisor of the FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean

On Monday 16 October 2017 the Council adopted the EU Annual Report on Human Rights And Democracy in the World in 2016.

2016 was a challenging year for human rights and democracy, with a shrinking space for civil society and complex humanitarian and political crises emerging. In this context, the European Union showed leadership and remained strongly committed to promote and protect human rights and democracy across the world.