By Donique Weston
KINGSTON, Jamaica, (JIS) – Jamaica will benefit from up to US$500,000 in grant support to strengthen disaster resilience and recovery under a new Disaster Risk Reduction Programme for the Caribbean.
The initiative involves collaboration among the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and World Food Programme (WFP), with the invaluable support of the European Union (EU).
UNDP resident representative for Jamaica, Kishan Khoday, who made the disclosure on Tuesday, said that the new programme will be launched shortly.
“The programme will have important region-wide results but also dedicated country grants, for example, of up to half a million US dollars here in Jamaica,” he said.
He noted that the support will provide for capacity development to scale up policy, institutional and financing mechanisms for resilience recovery.
“Options for embracing loss and damage finance, and other policies around loss and damage can be a key outcome of this new cooperation,” the UNDP resident representative said.
He was participating in a hurricane Ready & Resilient forum at the UNDP’s Multi-Country Office in Kingston.
The event engaged entrepreneurs in the micro, small and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) sector on the topic of hurricane loss and damage.
Khoday said stakeholders must redouble efforts to boost disaster resilience of MSMEs as they are too significant to fail or sustain lengthy closures after a disaster.
“We need comprehensive disaster preparedness plans tailored specifically for MSMEs, the resources to build that resilience and early recovery. By enhancing financial support mechanisms, including from new loss and damage financing mechanisms, we can expand relief beyond grants to accessible insurance schemes and private partnerships as well,” he pointed out.
He noted that as a small island developing state, Jamaica is well positioned and qualified to model a resilient future where no one is left behind, one that embraces new financing options, technology and governance solutions.
Khoday noted that disaster risk resilience and recovery remain a cornerstone of the UNDP’s programme, noting that the organisation has typically allocated US$100 million annually to these efforts across the world.
