Canada launched $20 million Caribbean resilience facility

(MENAFN- Caribbean News Now) BRIDGETOWN, Barbados \u2013 Caribbean small island states are vulnerable to extreme weather events exacerbated by climate change. Lessons learned from the devastating 2017 Atlantic hurricane season revealed a need to strengthen country governments\u2019 long-term resilience and ability to build back better following natural disasters.\n

In response, Canada pledged $100 million (CAD) to support reconstruction and climate resilience efforts in the Caribbean region over the next five years during the UN-CARICOM High-Level Pledging Conference in November 2017.\n

On Wednesday, the government of Canada is pleased to launch a $20 million (CAD) Canada Caribbean Resilience Facility initiative to help Caribbean countries better prepare for and respond to natural disasters.\n id=\"mNCC\" language=\"javascript\">medianet_width='468';medianet_height= '60';medianet_crid='637422217'; id=\"mNSC\" src=\"http:\/\/contextual.media.net\/nmedianet.js?cid=8CUVV6306\" language=\"javascript\"> \n\n

\u201cThis initiative is being undertaken with Canada\u2019s Caribbean support as a direct response to the lessons learned following the devastating hurricanes in the Caribbean in 2017 that have impacted our neighbouring countries so severely,\u201d says Marie Legault, high commissioner of Canada to Barbados and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).\n

The facility, in partnership with the World Bank and the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR), will help countries to strengthen response, recovery and financial management systems so that governments can be better prepared to respond to and rebuild after disasters and effectively use emergency funding for post-disaster recovery activities.\n

This initiative will support capacity building to accelerate project implementation and develop public financial management systems to respond in case of disasters, with a focus on developing plans and training programs that incorporate gender considerations.\n

\u201cThe Facility will address an implementation deficit mainly caused by a capacity gap in Saint Lucia and across the Caribbean. To achieve the resilience we aim in the Caribbean, it is critical to expedite the implementation of recovery, reconstruction and resilience building projects,\u201d said permanent secretary Cointha Thomas, ministry of finance, Saint Lucia.\n

The Caribbean Resilience Facility will benefit nine eligible official development assistance (ODA) countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Suriname.\n

\u201cIn the face of the growing severity and frequency of extreme weather events, building resilience is the highest priority for the Caribbean nations,\u201d said Tahseen Sayed, World Bank Director for the Caribbean. \u201cWith support from the Canada financed facility, the World Bank will work with the country authorities in this collective effort to strengthen preparedness and country capacities to build back better.\u201c\n

Canada responded immediately to Hurricanes Maria and Irma in 2017, providing $2 million in humanitarian assistance. Canada also pledged $100 million over five years towards Caribbean reconstruction and climate resilience. The climate-resilience initiative launched today is part of Canada\u2019s $100-million pledge. Canada announced $100M over five years for Caribbean reconstruction and resilience building.\n

As of May 2019, initiatives totalling $70M have been announced. The remainder has been allocated but yet to be announced. These initiatives are aimed at helping countries to prepare for, respond to, recover from natural disasters, as well as better adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change. Links on announcements can be found below.

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