Caribbean Disaster Mitigation Planning Workshop

Resolution

The community of National Disaster Coordinators and personnel of national planning departments in the Region gathered under the USAID/OAS/CDERA/DERMS COLLABORATION ON July 7-10, 1997 in St. Lucia, having

appreciated that increased population and development have the potential to increase vulnerability to large scale disasters arising from natural and technological hazards,

recognised that the Caribbean has been and will continue to be exposed to these hazards,

heightened awareness of the important role of Disaster Mitigation as part of national development efforts,

debated, considered and agreed on the essential elements of a Disaster Mitigation Plan and Programme, and the importance of Hazard Vulnerability Assessments as an essential tool to guide development decisions,

hereby collectively petition our governments, in keeping with their commitments to the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR) and Agenda 21 of the Global Conference on Sustainable Development, to place a high priority on the following:

• the development and adoption of National Disaster Mitigation Plans and Programmes as part of the development planning process.

• the establishment of appropriate institutional arrangements to facilitate national coordination of hazard mitigation programmes and foster collaboration and cooperation between the National Disaster Management officials and Development Planners.

• the adoption of vulnerability assessments as a tool in the appraisal of proposals for new development where it is appropriate.