Early warning workshop to be held in Barbados

29 February 2016 -- Twenty-two participants will take part in a regional early-warning workshop geared towards enhancing the skills needed to establish an organisational early warning capability to support planning, policy making and disaster response in the region. This activity compliments other international efforts in the Caribbean aiming to reduce the impact of potentially devastating disaster events on populations and property. The workshop started on the 29th of February and will last until the 4th of March.   

The twenty-two participants will come from the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, the Regional Security System, the Caribbean Public Health Agency, the Implementing Agency for Crime and Security; and two IMPACS sub-agencies – the Regional Intelligence Fusion Centre and the Joint Regional Communication Centre. They will be joined by two experts from the Organisation of American States as part of a peer-to-peer exchange initiative.

This peer-to-peer exchange aims at facilitating the interconnectivity between OAS and CARICOM specialists. The OAS participants at the peer-to-peer exchange initiative will share with their CARICOM counterparts how they have adapted the systems and tools learned at previous training courses on open source information, information analysis and reporting and knowledge management, to their daily work. 

The training is part of the Global Crisis Response Support Programme (GCRSP), a two year programme financed by the European Union to the tune of 2.6 million euros. It aims to build and strengthen crisis response and early warning capacity in Latin American and the Caribbean. The GCRSP also seeks to improve the interconnectivity between crisis response centres within the region as well as strengthen cooperation with the EU Situation Room and other EU institutions in the field of crisis response and early warning. Activities include training, workshops and technical information sessions in Europe covering risk and scenario analysis, early warning, conflict analysis, leadership and strategic planning, cybersecurity, and other related topics.