The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) is the new name of the regional disaster management body formerly known as the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA), which operated from 1991 to August 2009. The official date of transition from CDERA to CDEMA was September 1, 2009.

Governance Mechanism

When one speaks of “CDEMA”, this refers to the region-wide organisation. CDEMA comprises:

• The Co-ordinating Unit, which is the CDEMA secretariat, headquartered in Barbados
  18 National Disaster Organisations, one in each of the participating states and
  A Technical Advisory Committee, comprising the 18 heads of each National Disaster Organisation. The TAC serves in a technical advisory capacity and makes recommendations to the Management Committee of Council (MCC) on the Agency’s Work Programme, Administrative Budget and any other major policy decisions required
• Management Committee of Council which is the administrative area of council
• A council, which is the supreme policy making body. It comprises the Heads of Government of the participating states and meets annually to review the work of the agency, approve its Work Programme and Administrative Budget and make any other major policy decisions required.

Functions of CDEMA

(a) Mobilizing and coordinating disaster relief
(b) Mitigating or eliminating, as far as practicable, the immediate consequences of disasters in participating states
(c) Providing immediate and coordinated response by means of emergency disaster relief to any affected participating state
(d) Securing, coordinating and providing to interested inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations reliable and comprehensive information on disasters affecting any participating state
(e) Encouraging –
(i) The adoption of disaster loss reduction and mitigation policies and practices at the national and regional level
(ii) Cooperative arrangements and mechanisms to facilitate the development of a culture of disaster loss reduction and
(f) Coordinating the establishment, enhancement and maintenance of adequate emergency disaster response capabilities among the participating states

Sub-regional focal points

To better deliver an efficient response, the 18 CDEMA Participating States are grouped into four-sub-regions, each of which is headed by an operation unit known as a Sub-regional Focal Point. The functions of each focal point are to:

• Acquire and maintain on an updated basis comprehensive information on the facilities and services available in each of the participating states for which they bear responsibility;
• Maintain and test, on a regular basis, communications with the Coordinating Unit and with critical response agencies under the control of national relief organizations;
• Maintain independent fuel and power supplies and ensure that relevant physical facilities are in a condition to withstand a major disaster;
• Keep and maintain, at the operational focal point, in serviceable and optimal working condition an equipment package containing essential items determined by the Board of Directors, subject to the approval of Council.

Sub-regional structure at-a-glance

District Disaster Coordinators and contact numbers

Sub-Regional Focal Point	Responsible For
Antigua and Barbuda	Anguilla	British Virgin Islands	Montserrat	St Kitts / Nevis
Barbados	Dominica	St Lucia	St. Vincent
Jamaica	Bahamas	Belize	Turks & Caicos	Haiti
Trinidad & Tobago	Grenada	Guyana	Suriname

Membership
Anguilla, Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St Kitts, St Lucia, St Vincent, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos, Haiti, Suriname

Eligibility
Membership is not restricted to the English-speaking Caribbean. The agreement establishing CDERA makes explicit provision for any Caribbean State to apply for membership.

Applications for membership are to be submitted to the Coordinating Unit. Admission is subject to approval by the Council on the recommendation of the Board of Directors.

National Disaster Organisations
The agreement requires that each participating state establish or maintain a National Disaster Organisation (NDO) or a national relief organization capable of responding swiftly, effectively and in a coordinated manner to disasters in participating states. This is the government-designated organisation which has overall responsibility for the country’s National Disaster Management Programme.

The NDOs have the primary responsibility for coordinating national-level response to disasters in their respective countries.

They are also the national focal points for CDEMA’s activities in participating states. The NDOs are headed by the National Disaster Coordinator (NDC) who is a government official responsible for the day-to-day management of the organization. The actual name and structure of the NDO and the title and terms of appointment of the NDC varies from country to country.

Comprehensive Disaster Management
With more than US$5 BILLION in losses to the Caribbean in the last two decades of the 20th century, the agency has refocused its attention on Comprehensive Disaster Management (CDM), a new thrust for the 21st century.
CDM is an integrated approach to disaster management, efficiently utilising dedicated resources in an environment where roles and functions are clearly defined and accepted by all stakeholders in all phases of disaster management.
This strategy has been endorsed by all member states and accepted by the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) which will see it being promoted in the Latin American states of the ACS. At the crux of CDM is a well informed and aware public and activities to achieve full compliance with CDM at the heart of the CDEMA operation.

This operation includes:

• Training for Disaster Management Personnel
• Development of model training courses
• Institutional Strengthening for Disaster Management Organisations
• Development of model Disaster Legislation for adaptation and adoption by Participating States
• Development of model policies and guidelines for use in emergencies
• Contingency planning
• Resource mobilization for strengthening disaster management programmes in participating states
• Improving emergency telecommunications and warning systems
• Development of Disaster Information and Communication systems
• Education and Public Awareness

This requires strong collaboration among all stakeholders especially where resources are limited.