OCHA strengthens Caribbean operational presence amid hurricane season

By Anthony Prassoulis, Information Management Consultant in OCHA ROLAC

In the grips of an extremely active 2020 hurricane season, OCHA’s Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (ROLAC) has bolstered its operational presence in the Caribbean with the establishment of a Humanitarian Advisory Team (HAT) in Barbados that adds to OCHA’s longstanding presence in the region via HATs in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, and a country office in Haiti.  

Following the destruction brought by 2017 hurricane season, ROLAC increased activities in the Caribbean alongside a growing UN presence and scaled-up support for disaster preparedness and response efforts in the highly vulnerable Eastern Caribbean. The placement of a HAT in the sub-region brings ROLAC closer to key development and humanitarian actors in the Caribbean, acting as a fulcrum for coordination and information management support to the UN Resident Coordinator, the UN Emergency Technical Team (UNETT) and the UN Sub-Regional Team (UNST).  

Embedded in the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office (RCO), the HAT plays a key role in strengthening localized readiness and response capacity in the 10 countries and territories under the coverage of the RCO for Barbados and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). The HAT will provide essential support to national disaster management organizations, facilitate inter-sector/cluster coordination and rapid resource mobilization, and promote information sharing between coordination structures and partners.  

Barbados is also the strategic location of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency’s (CDEMA) headquarters. Establishing a HAT in Barbados helps OCHA better support the UN RC in developing a coordinated approach to UN agencies’ cooperation with CDEMA. In addition, it allows for the facilitation of enhanced technical assistance in support of the Regional Response Mechanism (RRM) and presents an opportunity to strengthen OCHA’s role in the Eastern Caribbean Development Partners Group (ECDPG), a key partners’ forum chaired by the UN RC, whose Disaster Management group coordinates humanitarian assistance efforts in the sub-region during an emergency.   

Across the region, governments have imposed physical distancing and lockdown measures to curb the spread of COVID-19, greatly complicating preparedness actions and creating a dynamic response environment as countries brace for the brunt of a potential two-tier crisis. ROLAC’s 2020 operational readiness plan for the Caribbean has been geared toward strengthening response capacities, ensuring that coordination mechanisms are well-defined and properly supported and that partners have the tools necessary to effectively respond to emergencies in this new and rapidly evolving environment.  

In the COVID-19 environment, response efforts will largely depend on strong remote support mechanisms. With this in mind, ROLAC engaged partners early in the hurricane season to set up a remote Assessment and Analysis (A&A) Cell for the Caribbean. Facilitated by OCHA, the A&A Cell provides a collaborative space for key partners with information management and mapping capabilities to develop a shared understanding of the humanitarian situation, coordinate assessments and facilitate joint analysis during an emergency response. The Cell was activated during Hurricane Dorian in 2019 and proved to be an invaluable component of the response, leveraging partners capacities and expertise to provide continuous information and decision-making support.   

As we have now entered the peak of an already highly active season, there is a 70 per cent chance that the La Niña climate pattern will be present through February 2021, potentially increasing Atlantic hurricane activity as the phenomenon enables storms to develop and intensify. At this critical juncture, putting boots on the ground in Barbados places OCHA in a better position to provide support to governments and partners in accomplishing its mission to coordinate emergency response to save lives and protect people.