ࡱ> 574%`  bjbj"x"x . @@   2. . . . . # / Y[[[[[[$ ht: . . D D D . . YD YD D . " =HT  "5$0,$ $7 Z @D 4 7 7 7 : 7 7 7   A Strategy for Establishing Coastal Hazards Preparedness and Mitigation Initiatives in the CDERA Participating States LYNCH, Lloyd L. and ROBERTSON, R. E. A. Seismic Research Centre University of the West Indies St. Augustine, TRINIDAD and TOBAGO Many countries bordering the Caribbean Sea and Adjacent Waters will soon be seeking to accelerate preparedness and mitigation initiatives to reduce vulnerability to Tsunamis and other Coastal Hazards. This is in keeping with the obligation to develop the response component of the soon to be established Caribbean Tsunami Warning System, as well as to complement it with alternative risk reduction measures to make it more sustainable. The success of these initiatives will be highly contingent on how well they are implemented in the broader context of disaster management in the respective countries and the strategies employed to overcome known challenges that have hindered the effectiveness of similar initiatives for even more conspicuous natural hazards that the region faces. Perhaps the most prominent of these challenges entails: Establishment of effective programmes that could stand the test of time, Employment of measures that will reach and effectively prepare a wide target audience from limited prevailing resources, and Creating a framework with mechanisms to promote compliance to standards and policies. Since the beginning of the current decade a concerted effort has been made to shift the emphasis of disaster management programmes in the CDERA participating states, from the reactive approach centred on response and reconstruction, to more prevention-based activities involving hazard assessment and the development and implementation of appropriate policies and standards. This has been carried out under the umbrella of Comprehensive Disaster Management (CDM), a strategy that promotes multi-hazard management featuring active participation of key stakeholders and sectors of a particular state. Progress has been to some extent limited, with many disaster functionaries citing implementation issues as the main obstacle. While it is generally accepted that a multi-sectored/multi-stakeholder risk reduction platform (akin to that recommended by the Hyogo Framework of Action: 2005-2015) must be established to mainstream disaster management activities into development planning, only a few states have managed to set up this crucial framework. The authors of this submission propose that the implementation of future preparedness and mitigation initiatives for Coastal Hazards should be used as opportunities to help in the creation and fashioning of these risk reduction platforms in the CDERA participating states. Tsunami, being a rapid onset hazard that crosscuts bothhydro-meteorological and geological frontiers hasvery important attributes in respect of disaster management planning. Mechanisms put in place to reduce tsunami riskcan complement and/or enhance those forother hazards. For this reason future tsunami preparedness and mitigation projects could be used as the vehicle to rally stakeholders and sectors in each countryto join in the effort to comprehensively update national plans not onlyto cope with the tsunami hazard but to improve currently used mechanisms and protocols for other hazards. Attempts to build CDM compliant disaster management programmes have employed a bottom up approach focused around the national disaster offices. To recruit diligent and committed national personnel to man a risk reduction platform there must be strong directive and commitment from the top. We therefore propose a top down approach that uses two teams to galvanize the implementation process. The first team will champion the cause of the CDM, including the benefits of initiatives for tsunami risk reduction, at the top level. This team should comprise a group of prominent lobbyists who will to advocate at the level of CARICOM, Heads of States and the line Ministers or their designates. It will solicit commitments for CDM implementation, including support for mechanisms for risk compliance. The second team comprising scientific experts, engineers, planners, environmentalists and disaster managers will develop the implementation and operational strategies for the risk reduction platform which will be the main architect of the CDM. vxe   hDcmH ,sH ,hDc hDc5\ hDcCJ vwxG H  d e <=  & FL]L$L]La$$a$ ,1h/ =!"#$% @@@ NormalCJ_HaJmH sH tH B@B  Heading 1$L@&]L5\DAD Default Paragraph FontVi@V  Table Normal :V 44 la (k@(No List BB@B Body Text$L]La$5\:P@: Body Text 2 L]LB^@B Normal (Web)dP  vwxGHde<= 0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X00vwxGHde<= X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0)    8@0(  B S  ? OLE_LINK1] : |9 9 <9 9 9&B*urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttagscountry-region8*urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttagsCity9*urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttagsplace T33H|C~6X88^8`OJPJQJ^Jo(- ^`OJQJo(o   ^ `OJQJo(   ^ `OJQJo( xx^x`OJQJo(o HH^H`OJQJo( ^`OJQJo( ^`OJQJo(o ^`OJQJo(|C~6O!' vA Strategy for Establishing Coastal Hazards Preparedness and Mitigation Initiatives in the CDERA Participating States Title  !"#%&'()*+-./01236Root Entry F0kT8Data 1TableWordDocument. SummaryInformation($DocumentSummaryInformation8,CompObjq  FMicrosoft Office Word Document MSWordDocWord.Document.89q