Barbados steps up disaster preparedness push

Barbados is continuing to strengthen its disaster preparedness efforts as regional officials focus on protecting vulnerable populations from the growing impact of climate-related events.

Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs Adrian Forde made the point while addressing participants at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre during a regional dialogue on Adaptive Social Protection and Disaster Response in the Caribbean recently.

Forde highlighted the increasing frequency, severity and cost of natural disasters and other crises, noting that countries across the region have experienced the devastating effects of such events.

“We in the region have first-hand experience of the destruction that natural disasters can inflict. Only recently in Barbados, we felt the wrath of Hurricane Beryl to our fishing industry. Each (event) erodes years of hard work and developmental gains, pushing vulnerable families deeper into hardship. A single storm can undo a decade of steady progress in a matter of hours,” he said.

The workshop, organised by the Inter- American Development Bank (IDB), is aimed at strengthening social protection systems across Latin America and the Caribbean, including contributory and non-contributory programmes as well as care services.

(MPEA/BT)