Dominica Updates the World on its Resilience Journey

PS Gloria Joseph Dr. Pepukaye Bardouille Chief Lorenzo Sanford

During the week of February 17th, President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton convened over 500 leaders representing government, business and civil society from across the Caribbean at the 5th CGI Action Network on Post-Disaster Recovery.

At the meeting, participants discussed the current recovery efforts in the region, progress to date, ongoing challenges, and announced new projects that address critical issues such as food security, access to health care, small business support, and solar energy. Representing Dominica were Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, Gloria Joseph; CREAD CEO, Dr. Pepukaye Bardouille and Kalinago Chief, Lorenzo Sanford.

In the last two years, the CGI Action Network on Post-Disaster Recovery has launched 114 commitments to action made by members of the CGI Action Network. When fully funded and implemented, these commitments (listed here) will have an estimated USD386 million in impact.

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In the Fighting Climate Change and Advancing Equality session, Dr. Pepukaye Bardouille speaks passionately about an innovative project in Dominica to support vulnerable communities through the CREAD led Community Emergency Readiness Initiative (CERI) – listen in at 1:21 here.

Meanwhile Chief Sanford shared his perspective on growing and preserving the cultural heritage of the Kalinago people, as well as, how climate change affects that section of the Dominica population and what is being done to teach them to live more resiliently, much like their ancestors. Listen here at 58:15.

CREAD’s Community Emergency Readiness Initiative (CERI) Kicks Off

Based on the experience from Hurricane Maria, several communities in Dominica were cut off from central emergency responders, and unable to cope with their most basic needs, resulting in physical and mental stress that could have been avoided had they been better prepared.

Making communities safe and self-reliant during an emergency and in the ensuing period thereafter, is critical to ensuring resilience at the community level.

Under the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Community Development, the Local Government Authority, the Office of Disaster Management (ODM) and CREAD, the CERI initiative is seeking to form Disaster Management Committees in each community, undertake physical vulnerability assessments of communities, develop a comprehensive Community Disaster Management Plan, and provide all necessary infrastructure, supplies and equipment required for the community to manage without outside support or utilities for a period of 15 days.

The CREAD Community Resilience and Capital Projects teams recently held their kick off meetings in Campbell and Good Hope where they paid rapt attention to residents who candidly stated their most pressing needs before, during and after a disaster such as Hurricane Maria. Petiite Soufriere is next on the agenda.

CREAD’s December 2019 Newsletter highlighted the Resilience Tracker which they developed and administered in close collaboration with the Office of Disaster Management (ODM) and the Local Government Commissioner, to 41 village councils and five (5) communities not covered by councils.

The Tracker covered an assessment of the physical vulnerability of communities, and the extent to which they have in place infrastructure and other systems to manage if isolated following a natural disaster. A series of community meetings and infrastructure assessments will take place in the top ten most vulnerable communities in the next month.

Revitalising Volunteerism in Dominica

It is widely believed that volunteerism is the backbone of the Dominican society and indomitable spirit. The concept of Koudmen (helping hand) has existed for generations, therefore, there is a strong commitment to ensuring that this is preserved and expanded as global penetration threatens this tradition.

One specific effort to revitalize Koudmen targets the Dominica State College (DSC) students to become more involved in their communities as Service Learners by way of programmmes offered by CREAD, the National Youth Council of Dominica (NYCD) and government initiatives.

Recently, a meet and greet at DSC featured speakers from CREAD, NYCD and Local Government. CREAD Capital Works Manager, Kennard Dazzle explained CREAD’s Community Emergency Readiness Initiative (CERI) and invited interested students to shadow him as he conducts infrastructure vulnerability assessments in communities; additionally, CREAD’s Community Resilience Team of Claudine Roberts and Ayisha Richards offered students the opportunity to be members of the Community Disaster Committees in their communities.

Local Government Commissioner, Glenroy Toussaint reiterated the importance of volunteerism to the development of Dominica and the upholding of this custom. He encouraged students to consider participating in the Village Council and to get involved in community disaster management which includes Shelter Management.

President of the NYCD, Kerdisha St. Louis spoke about the Strong Bodies, Strong Minds Program and invited students to volunteer at the Newtown and Soufriere Primary Schools while announcing that the program will soon be extended to the Kalinago Territory. St. Louis paid tribute to the outstanding service learners from term one by awarding each with a certificate and a token of appreciation.

Dominica Talent Meets

Global Opportunity

February 2020 dawned an interesting development and opportunity for Dominica as Natan Birman Manoim, Head of Business Development & Partnerships with Fiverr visited Dominica to explore potential.

Fiverr is a global marketplace connecting freelancers and business for their digital services needs. Its purpose is to create opportunities for anyone in the world to build their business, brand or dream. From voiceover artists to translators to programmers, Fiverr offers over 300 categories of digital services and eight industry stores that have led to millions of individual projects bought by businesses and individuals across more than 160 countries.

On its tenth anniversary, Fiverr announced that over a billion dollars has been earned by its global community of skilled freelancers during the last ten years, it also released a list of ten jobs that didn’t exist when the company was founded but are defining the modern workforce.

While in Dominica, Manoim held meetings with CREAD, UNDP, IsraAID and other key stakeholders in government and international donor community to determine the possibility of extending its platform to the wealth of talent that resides in Dominica. He also met with several groups of entrepreneurs in different fields to explain exactly how they can benefit from Fiverr.

Discussions are continuing with Fiverr to determine the best approach to future opportunities in Dominica.

Learn more about Fiverr Here

Hi! I’m Paul…

“It is always exciting to be associated with a first and being associated with the transformation of Dominica into the first climate resilient country in the world is truly an exciting opportunity. The Dominican people must be at the center of resilience and infrastructure projects such as this.

Being part of CREAD allows me to live my passion of delivering on high-quality infrastructure development projects. Superior public infrastructure supports growth, improves well-being and generates jobs. My objective in Dominica is to assist with delivering an Infrastructure system which is resilient, adaptable to new circumstances and future proof. I am truly living my passion!”

Paul Mondesir (St. Lucia), CREAD Capital Works Manager

Death Announcement of 80 year old Samuel Godfrey Shillingford

President’s Charities Foundation Inc. to Distribute Donations to 15 Charitable Organizations Across Dominica

Soursop farmers and technicians in Grenada undergo comprehensive training to bolster industry

Death Announcement of 78 year old Emanuel Bethelmie, better known as JB of St. Joseph, who resided in both New York and Dominica

Emonews

Emonews

Dominica Updates the World on its Resilience Journey