US pumps US$5.5M for building disaster resilience

The US Government has committed US$5.5 million through two initiatives to support preparation for and building resilience from natural disasters.
These initiatives will benefit citizens in Guyana and Suriname, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, The Bahamas, Grenada, Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago.
On August 14, the United States Government in partnership with the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) launched a new US$4.5 million initiative entitled “Caribbean Climate Resilience Initiative” to help countries reduce disaster risks as well as absorb and recover from hazard impacts and climate variability.
Based in Barbados, CDEMA will work with local partners on the implementation of the programme. The programme will strengthen operational systems, improve information and communications technology infrastructure for resilience programming and enhance mechanisms and systems at the community level to build resilience to climate-related hazards.
Recognising the important role that communities play in building resilient countries, USAID is also partnering with the Inter-American Foundation (IAF) under a new activity that started on August 3, 2020, entitled, “Building Community Resilience in the Eastern and Southern Caribbean”.
Under this initiative, USAID is contributing US$1 million to strengthen coastal communities to become more resilient to the impact of natural hazards. This award will provide grants to local community organisations undertaking disaster mitigation and resilience-related work.
Under the US-Caribbean 2020 Strategy for Engagement and the US-Caribbean Resilience Partnership, the United States remains committed to partnering with the people of the Caribbean to ensure that they are better able to prepare for, recover from, and build resilience to natural disasters.