The Caribbean and Central America share a common region with common threats from natural and manmade disasters which is why emergency managers from both regions say there should be a common response. Taking advantage of its seat as protem president of SICA, Belize's National Emergency Management Organization today hosted a meeting between CARICOM's Emergency Response Association - CDERA - and CEPREDENAC - the Coordination Center for National Disaster Prevention in Central America. Speaking with the Government Press Office, CDERA"S Coordinator Jerry Collymore and CEPREDENAC's Executive Secretary David Smith says it is all about cooperation and collaboration.
Jerry Collymore - CDERA
"We share the sub-regions, common experiences, and threats from natural and manmade hazards and that the experiences in each region could better be harnessed to improve our practices and policies. We both, as sub- regions, have recently experienced significant loss of property and livelihood and we really want to use our best experiences to minimize those potential losses to our peoples and systems."
David Smith, CEPREDENAC
"We easily came to an agreement here basically in terms of a framework for cooperation between CEPREDENAC and CDERA convened by NEMO and Belize. The basis of it all is institutional strengthening, increased dialogue, and proper documentation addressing national priorities and that is what we discussed, what we shared, and that is how we will move forward."
The date and venue for the next bi-regional meeting has not yet been set.
