Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Barbuda Affairs – The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) Co-ordinating Unit (CU) in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and other International Partners provided a Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) training for senior staff in select sectors targeting seven (7) Participating States as well as Disaster Managers. The workshop took place in Barbados from Monday 27th March to Friday 31st March 2023.

Forty (40) participants were selected from the CDEMA Participating States under the Enabling Gender-Responsive Disaster Recovery, Climate, and Environmental Resilience in the Caribbean (EnGenDER) project attended the workshop.

The participants were drawn from Antigua & Barbuda, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, St Lucia, and St Vincent & The Grenadines along with the staff of CDEMA, UNDP, and the EU. The group comprises senior staff from their respective countries’ Housing, Agriculture, Economic Planning, Finance, Infrastructure, and Tourism ministries.

The main objectives of the workshop were to:

  • Provide participants with the knowledge of The Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) the methodology which collects information on the physical impacts of a disaster.
  • Provide training to sectoral actors to ensure a practical understanding of the methodology
  • Develop a cadre of professionals with the capacity to support its application for the assessment of damage, loss, and sectoral recovery needs in the wake of a disaster.
  • Provide in-depth training that will enable participants to become sector focal points in their country.

Antigua and Barbuda was represented by Dr. Adelle Blair – Sustainable Tourism Officer – Ministry of Tourism, Mrs. Jannelle Wehner-Watts – Senior Budget Analyst – Ministry of Finance, Mr. Alvah Guishard – GIS Specialist – NODS, Mr. Andrew Nurse – Chartered Surveyor – Survey and Mapping Division and Ms. Marcelle Freeland – Liaison Officer – Ministry of Agriculture who returned over the weekend.