EU and National Partners Sign Landmark Agreement on Disaster Risk Management

A new landmark agreement to enhance cooperation on integrated disaster risk management was signed Wednesday between the European Union (EU) and national and regional actors.

At the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signing ceremony at the Savannah Hotel, Minister of Home Affairs and Information Wilfred Abrahams said strong partnerships across various nations and sectors is key to deploying a successful response in moments of crisis.

“Barbados supports the strengthening of the partnership between EU-LAC in disaster preparedness. It makes no sense to try to combat these challenges alone. It is just not possible. Resulting damages and losses could extend beyond the ability of any single country or region to respond and recover effectively,” he said.

“For instance, we can reflect on the countries of Dominica and Turks and Caicos that were affected by Hurricane Maria in 2017. It took the collective efforts coordinated by the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, through the regional response mechanism, to respond, provide relief, and restore the countries on sound footing. Even more recently, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, while not caused by a natural hazard, significantly impacted countries across the world, resulting in the requirement of a coordinated response to combat the spread of the virus.”

Abrahamas noted that the Latin America and Caribbean region possesses invaluable knowledge and insights garnered from years of grappling with disasters, and by pooling strengths and sharing best practices with the European Union, Barbados and the Caribbean neighbours all stand to benefit significantly from these lessons learnt over time.

The MOU was led by the European Commission’s Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations Department and supported by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, which brought together governmental, intergovernmental, and non-governmental organisations for negotiations that started in 2023.

During those negotiations, the Latin America and the Caribbean region was represented by four leading Intergovernmental organisations: the Coordination Center for the Prevention of Disasters in Central America and the Dominican Republic; the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency; the General Secretariat for the Andean Community of Nations; and the Meeting of Ministers and High Authorities for Integrated Risk Management of the South American Common Market. Individual countries – Chile, Cuba and Mexico – also joined as signatories to the agreement.

Abrahams thanked the signatory countries for coming on board and signing the MOU.

He said collaborations such as the EU-LAC partnership on disaster management and disaster preparedness are crucial to efforts to enhance national safety and security, while building resilience to these hazards and disasters.