Trinidad & Tobago

Traditionally, the focus of the main actors’ attention in disaster management in Trinidad and Tobago has been disaster response and reconstruction with little attention given to preventative measures. However, natural and man-made disasters will remain and possibly increase in scope in future due to the global climate change.

Promoting an informed, alert and self-reliant community, capable of playing its full part in support of and in cooperation with government, is therefore a must. This must also include all relevant disaster management matters and the establishment of the efficient disaster preparedness and mitigation mechanisms at the local level are the main priorities of the UNDP programme of support.

UNDP  supported the establishment of the ODMP and the first communication programme used to foster public understanding and awareness in two areas:

• Enhanced understanding of the role and function of the ODPM

• Greater awareness of the scope of hazards that are specific to each of the islands of the nation state of Trinidad and Tobago.

The Caribbean is characterized by the recurrence of small, medium and large-scale disasters, like hurricanes, floods, land slides, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcano eruptions, droughts and forest fires. In the last thirty years, the Latin America and Caribbean region has suffered a number of large scale disasters that have resulted in direct losses calculated at more than 70 billion dollars and affecting 30% of the total population .

• The increase in disaster risk is a growing fact and is directly related to patterns of development in the region. This relates to a number of factors:

• Concentration in risk zones of very vulnerable social groups with a low economic capacity to absorb the impact of the disasters and recover from their effects.

• Inappropriate land use, human settlements in areas prone to threat such as river banks and wetlands combined with fragile and insecure conditions of life with limited social infrastructure and services.

• The continued increase of the levels of threat through the processes of environmental degradation.

• Insufficient policies, administrative structures and legal systems for risk management that result in a weak capacity for its management and reduction on the part of the public institutions and the local and national governments.

UNDP based on the comparative advantage of presence and trained human resources in these countries as well as their involvement in public policy at different levels in the region, supports the creation and development of strategies, which strengthen the national and regional capacities to mainstream risk management into development

What type of capacity building support does UNDP provide?

• Reducing the impact of natural disasters requires a comprehensive approach that accounts for the causes of a society's vulnerability to disasters. Political will must be created to sustain new policies. The key elements of a comprehensive approach to disaster risk reduction consist of: Political will and governance aspects (policies, legal frameworks, resources and organizational structures)

• Risk identification (risk and impact assessment, early warning)

• Knowledge management information management, communication, education & training, public awareness, research)

• Risk management applications (environmental and natural resource management, social and economic development practices, physical and technical measures)

• Preparedness and emergency management