Section Head of Disaster Management Paul Martens, will be attending the R3I Regional Risk Reduction Initiative that is being held from January 26-29 in Anguilla.
The R3I emphasises intra-regional learning and sharing of tools, knowledge and best practices to enhance the territories’ individual and collective capacities in the British dependencies and Dutch Caribbean.
The meeting will also signify the launch of Aerial Mapping and Early Warning Systems Activities in Anguilla.
Hosted by the Anguilla National Disaster Management Committee and Department of Disaster Management and coordinated by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Office out of Barbados and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), approximately 80 persons are expected to participate which includes R3I beneficiaries, the European Union, UNESCO IHE, UNESCO-IOC IGC CARIBE, Meteo France, French West Indies Securite Civile, the Meteorological Departments of Aruba and Curacao among others.
Section Head of Disaster Management Paul Martens told the Department of Communications that during the meeting attendees will be informed about the scope and expected outputs and outcomes related to the R3I project.
"The participants in the meeting will also be informed about the upcoming aerial data collection, expansion of the Anguilla warning system, flooding, hazardous materials, environment and other risks facing Anguilla and issues to address them.
"The information disseminated at this meeting will be very useful for our own disaster management planning," Paul Martens told the GIS on Tuesday.
The R3I covers the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) of Great Britain and The Netherlands. It has been considered that the islands are highly vulnerable to various natural hazards and climate change impacts, also having fragile ecosystems and concentrations of settlements and major functions in low lying coastal areas and other hazard prone locations.
This project seeks to address the risk and exposure of these small islands by providing a network of regional infrastructure, programmes, policies and protocols to strengthen their capacity to predict and prepare for natural hazards, thus improving resilience and reducing risk and subsequent loss.
The R3I is being funded by the European Commission to the tune of 4.9 million Euros covering a period of three years (2009-2011).
The previous workshop meeting was held on Sint Maarten in October 2010.