Trinidad and Tobago

Highlights

• In October 2018, the number of refugees and migrants from Venezuela worldwide reached three million, at least 2.4 million of them are hosted by countries in Latin America and the Caribbean region.

• UNICEF estimates that the number of children in need has surpassed 460,000, taking into consideration the needs of migrant children, non-Venezuelan returnees and those living in host communities where services are struggling to fulfil the increasing demands.

Respuesta regional: reporte situacional No. 2

En Perú, el aumento de entradas diarias a 4.000, antes de la fecha límite para acceder al Permiso Temporal de Permanencia, llevó a las autoridades peruanas y sus aliados a escalar la respuesta.

Discusiones intergubernamentales continúan teniendo lugar para reforzar la coordinación regional, antes de la reunión de Quito II que se realizará el 22 y 23 de noviembre.

With the support of the European Union Civil Protection and Humanitarian Organisation (ECHO), WFP has partnered with the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) to build capacity within CDEMA and its 18 Participating States. To date, WFP has successfully conducted two end-to-end (E2E) supply chain management trainings – one national training in Dominica and a sub-regional training in Barbados.

La violencia contra la mujer afecta a casi el 60% de las mujeres en algunos países de las Américas En promedio, una de cada tres mujeres en la región ha padecido violencia física y/o sexual por parte de su pareja en algún momento de sus vidas, pero este número varía de entre 1 de cada 7 en Brasil, Panamá y Uruguay, a casi 6 de cada 10 mujeres en Bolivia.

On average, one in three women in the Region has suffered physical and/or sexual violence from an intimate partner at some point in their lives. However, this number varies from 1 in 7 in Brazil, Panama and Uruguay, to almost 6 in 10 women in Bolivia.

Outside of sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean is the region with the highest HIV incidence rate among adolescents aged 10–19 years, and key indicators show only limited progress in meeting their HIV prevention needs. Since 2010, for example, the estimated 19,000 new HIV infections annually among 10- to 19-year-olds is essentially unchanged. The situation is roughly the same among younger children.

The Honourable Camille Robinson-Regis, Minister of Planning and Development is announcing that the official signing of the Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB) Technical Assistance for Disaster Emergencies Grant took place today, Tuesday November 27th, 2018 in the Arnold Thomasos Room East at the Office of the Parliament in Port of Spain. The signatories to this agreement included Minister Robinson-Regis; Ms. Rocio Medina-Bolivar, the IDB’s Country Representative and Ms. Jill De Bourg, President of the Trinidad and Tobago Red Cross.

In Peru, a surge of an average of 4,000 daily arrivals, before the deadline of 31st of October for the Temporary Stay Permit, has led Peruvian authorities and partners to scale up the response.

Intergovernmental discussions continue to take place in order to strengthen regional coordination, in advance of the Quito II meeting on November 22 and 23.

In 16 countries, 75 partners participating to the Regional and National Platforms progress with the articulation of a Refugee and Migrant Response Plan for 2019.

Situation Overview

The Ministry of Social Development and Family Services wishes to categorically deny that distribution of disaster relief cheques has been halted. In fact, distribution of cheques to residents affected by the flooding of October 19 – 21, 2018 continue to take place, as the Ministry seeks to bring a sense of normalcy to affected families.

Following the inclement weather which resulted in severe flooding in some parts of south Trinidad, the Ministry of Social Development and Family Services stands ready to provide the necessary assistance to affected persons.

Relief and recovery efforts continue by response agencies in communities affected by the recent flooding in southern Trinidad. The ODPM continues to monitor the current flooding situation and remains in contact with the Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government (MORDLG), the Ministry of Works and Transport (MOWT), and other support agencies to ensure immediate assistance can be rendered if called upon.

The Trinidad and Tobago Meteorological Service (TTMS) has issued a Riverine Flood Alert #2 – Orange Level for communities located along Trinidad’s main river courses (in particular, Caroni and Oropouche) and their associated tributaries for the period Thursday 15th November, 2018 at 10:30 a.m. to Saturday 17th November, 2018 at 2:00 p.m. Orange level means that you should prepare to safeguard yourself and your property.

Employees of the Ministry of Education at the Ministry’s Head Office, St. Vincent Street, Port of Spain have demonstrated tremendous kindness and support for their colleagues who suffered losses due to flooding during the weekend of October 20th, 2018.

The MOE staff contributed approximately twenty five (25) flood relief hampers which were distributed by the Honourable Anthony Garcia, Minister of Education and Permanent Secretary, Lenor Baptiste-Simmons in a simple ceremony on Monday 12th November, 2018.

The Consumer Affairs Division of the Ministry of Trade and Industry as part of its mandate to ensure fair pricing in the marketplace has been monitoring the prices of items at supermarkets in Trinidad. A review of supermarket prices prior to, and following the flooding in October 2018 has revealed that the vast majority of prices of items remained the same. During the exercise it was noted that very few price increases were observed but these were determined to be normal changes and not necessarily because of the action by merchants in response to floods.

1. Fuertes lluvias en centroamérica causan muertes y daños a los medios de vida

2. Inundaciones, un huracán y una tormenta tropical azotaron varias áreas de México en Octubre

3. Inundaciones en el noreste de Colombia han afectado a más de 64,000 personas

4. Fuerte sismo en el norte de Haití dejó a cientos de personas heridas y causó daño a miles de casas

5. Trinidad y Tobago recibe el equivalente de un mes de lluvias en un periodo de dos días, causando inundaciones masivas en casi todo el país

1. Intense flooding throughout Central America has caused losses to livelihoods and lives

2. Flooding, a tropical cyclone and a tropical storm battered various areas of Mexico throughout October

3. Flooding in northeastern Colombia has affected more than 64,000 people

4. Strong earthquake in northern Haiti damages thousands of homes, injures hundreds

5. Trinidad and Tobago was withstood a month’s worth of rainfall in the span of two days, triggering mass floods

Situation

On 18-19 October 2018, Trinidad and Tobago experienced torrential rainfall across the country. According to Government officials, Trinidad alone received a full month’s worth of rain during the two days, with estimates that 80 per cent of the country was affected by flooding. Floods and landslides affected communities and public services and blocked main roads. Central and eastern regional corporations were the most affected, namely Chaguanas Borough, Couva-Tabaquite -Talparo, Mayaro-Rio Claro, Sangre Grande and Tunapuna (Flash Note No. 1).