The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) is an inter-regional supportive network of independent emergency units throughout the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

region. Formed on September 1, 2005, as the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA), it underwent a name change to CDEMA in September 2009.

Members

The participating member states and agencies of the CDEMA include:

Activities

The stated role of the CDEMA is to coordinate disaster response to member countries. CDEMA personnel worked in

Grenada Grenada is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea. The southernmost of the Windward Islands, Grenada is directly south of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and about north of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and the So ...

and

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

in early September 2004 after the passage of

Hurricane Ivan Hurricane Ivan was a large, long-lived, and devastating tropical cyclone that caused widespread damage in the Caribbean and United States. The ninth named storm, the sixth hurricane, and the fourth major hurricane of the active 2004 Atlantic h ...

. During the mid-1990s, CDEMA provided disaster support for the eruption of the Soufriere Hills volcano in

Montserrat Montserrat ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, wit ...

. The CDEMA also regularly monitors the Soufriere Hills volcano, in addition to the active undersea volcano named Kick 'em Jenny, to the north of

. Members of the

Regional Security System The Regional Security System (RSS) is an international agreement for the defence and security of the eastern Caribbean region with expansion into South America beginning. History The Regional Security System was created in 1982 to counter threa ...

have also requested military and logistical assistance through the agency after natural disasters.

Background

The

Pan-Caribbean The concept of a "pan-Caribbean" culture area refers to recent proposals by an international group of archaeologists to the effect that contacts among Pre-Columbian peoples of the Yucatán Peninsula, the Antilles, Central America, and northern Sou ...

Disaster Preparedness and Prevention Project (PCDPPP) was established in July 1984 to minimize the damage caused by severe weather conditions in the

region and the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

. Prior to the establishment of the PCDPPP, disasters in the area were addressed by private donors. The PCDPPP was a collection of international sponsors such as the

United States Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an agency of the United States government that has been responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. Established in 1961 and reorganized in 1998 ...

(USAID), the

Canadian International Development Agency The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA; in French: ''Agence canadienne de développement international''; ''ACDI'') was a federal Canadian organization that administered foreign aid programs in developing countries. The agency was me ...

, the

Government of the Netherlands The Netherlands is a Parliamentary system, parliamentary representative democracy. A constitutional monarchy, the country is organised as a Decentralization, decentralised unitary state.''Civil service systems in Western Europe'' edited by A. ...

, and the United Nations Disaster Relief Organization (UNDRO). The PCDPPP failed to break the Caribbean's direct and indirect dependence on

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Ultimately, the PCDPPP failed to achieve full participation from Caribbean countries. In 1989, after the widespread destruction of

Hurricane Hugo Hurricane Hugo was a powerful tropical cyclone that inflicted widespread destruction across the northeastern Caribbean and the Southeastern United States in September 1989. The eleventh tropical cyclone, eighth Tropical cyclone naming, named st ...

, there was a focus on creating more effective natural disaster management and preparedness. In 1991, the Caribbean Disaster and Emergency Response Agency (CDERA) was created. CDERA was formed by 16 participating Caribbean nations. With this organization, Caribbean countries had regional support along with international support. This increased the probability of aid coming from regional sources. CDERA would later change its name to CDEMA, the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency.

History

In 1989,

struck the Caribbean. Relief still relied on foreign aid from countries such as the

. By 1990, the insurance companies were criticizing the PCDPPP and how it was necessary to revise the way in which the Caribbean responded to

natural disasters A natural disaster is the very harmful impact on a society or community brought by natural phenomenon or Hazard#Natural hazard, hazard. Some examples of natural hazards include avalanches, droughts, earthquakes, floods, heat waves, landslides ...

. The construction industry, in particular, was criticized for not enforcing enough standards to ensure that structures could withstand disasters in the Caribbean. In 1991, the PCDPPP ceased to exist, and for about a month, the insurance agencies in the region were looking for a replacement. The Caribbean region met the deadline of June 1, 1991. Funding for disaster relief in the Caribbean has been an issue. In September 1991, the

Caribbean Community The Caribbean Community (abbreviated as CARICOM or CC) is an intergovernmental organisation that is a Political association, political and economic union of 15 member states (14 nation-states and one dependency) and five associated members thro ...

(CARICOM) was finally able to take the initiative and set up CDERA. The growth of CDERA is said to have been very slow throughout the 1990s. In 2003, studies showed that the Caribbean Metrological organization based in

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

, had developed earlier warning systems in the Caribbean that were saving lives. There was still controversy over whether the people had confidence in this system. In 2005, CDERA was planning to better coordinate with the tourism industry by preparing a response strategy for natural or

man-made disasters A disaster is an event that causes serious harm to people, buildings, economies, or the environment, and the affected community cannot handle it alone. ''Natural disasters'' like avalanches, floods, earthquakes, and wildfires are caused by natur ...

. CDERA was also formulating plans to better train their employees and improve the spread of information. The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) claimed the current system CDERA was using needed to become more integrated to avoid a "

Tower of Babel The Tower of Babel is an origin myth and parable in the Book of Genesis (chapter 11) meant to explain the existence of different languages and cultures. According to the story, a united human race speaking a single language migrates to Shin ...

" effect occurring. Also, later that year, CDERA coordinator Jeremy Collymore started putting pressure on the individual countries of the Caribbean Union to become more self-sustainable in case of an emergency, while aid from

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

was used to help develop the community's early warning systems and hazard management ability. With the recent tsunamis in Thailand and Somalia, aid was sought from the

Pacific Tsunami Warning Center The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC), located on Ford Island, Hawaii, is one of two tsunami warning centers in the United States, covering Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific, as well as Puerto Ric ...

to develop earlier tsunami warning systems in the Caribbean. Research was done within the Caribbean, at places such as the

University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Universidad de Puerto Rico;'' often shortened to UPR) is the main List of state and territorial universities in the United States, public university system in the Commonwealth (U.S. i ...

and the

University of the Virgin Islands The University of the Virgin Islands (or UVI) is a public historically black land-grant university in the United States Virgin Islands. History UVI was founded as the College of the Virgin Islands on March 16, 1962. In 1986, it officially becam ...

. In 2006, financial aid from the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

granted CDERA 3.4 million. CDERA's projects are still being funded from outside sources. As of 2010, approximately 90% of funding for CDERA's projects comes from international donors. Along with funds being heavily dependent on foreign sources, staffing for CDERA has been a major hurdle. It has been said that some staff members of CDERA lack backgrounds in disaster management, and those in charge are low in the bureaucracy's chain of command. In 2010, CDERA underwent a name change to the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA). They have recently focused on improving results through better connections with policymakers and technical officials."Effective Disaster Management addressed at recent CDEMA meeting," BVI News (May 31, 2011): www.bvinews.com

References

External links

* {{Authority control . Emergency organizations

Disaster A disaster is an event that causes serious harm to people, buildings, economies, or the environment, and the affected community cannot handle it alone. '' Natural disasters'' like avalanches, floods, earthquakes, and wildfires are caused by na ...