Project Document Template

UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

PROJECT DOCUMENT

Region: Latin America and the Caribbean

Project Title: Strengthen integrated early warning systems for more effective disaster risk reduction in the Caribbean through knowledge and tool transfer

Project Number: Award 00103420

Implementing Partner: UNDP

Responsible Parties: CDEMA, IFRC

Start Date: 15.05.2017 End Date: 31.12.2018 PAC Meeting date: 14/08/17

Brief Description

UNDP-working in collaboration and coordination with the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), DIPECHO partners, and national counterparts-will strengthen integrated Early Warning Systems (EWS) in Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) through the effective leveraging of tools and knowledge. The objective is to improve EWS for more effective Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in the Caribbean, and to move toward the realization of a more integrated system, through concrete actions addressing existing gaps. This initiative seeks to emphasize the 4 components of EWS - and close priority gaps - at a national level, contributing to the integration of national and community EWS and addressing sustainability and national ownership of EWS through 4 expected results: - R1: Increase access to existing tools and knowledge of EWS at a national and regional level; - R2: Provide integrated EWS solutions in five target countries through knowledge sharing; - R3: Increase EWS effectiveness in five target countries through concrete priority actions; - R4: Ensure EWS knowledge transfer, documentation and communication. The project will be implemented in coordination with Oxfam, covering the EWS components of the DRR in the Caribbean, and undertaking joint regional planning and communication, visibility and documentation of handover processes. Activities include the expansion of the existing EWS toolkits (R1), specific solutions tool packages and a EWS national roadmap drawing on the Cuban model and/or IFRC expertise (R2) and specific actions in each country with a sustainable handover plan (R3). Technical assistance, as well as coordination and communication together with Oxfam will enhance the reach, effectiveness and visibility of the project (R4).

Contributing Outcome (RPD):

Outcome 4. Countries are able to reduce the likelihood of conflict and lower the risk of natural disasters, including from climate change (Strategic Plan outcome 5).

Indicative Output(s) with gender marker²:

Output 1. Increase access to tools and knowledge of EWS at a national and regional level GEN 2

Output 2. Provide integrated EWS solutions in five target countries through knowledge sharing GEN 2

Output 3. Increase EWS effectiveness in five target countries through concrete priority actions GEN 2

Output 4. Ensure EWS knowledge transfer, documentation and communication GEN 2

Total resources required (euros):	1,372,315
	Co-financing:	222,315 Euros
	Donor:	1,150,000 Euros
	Government:
	In-Kind:
Unfunded:

Agreed by (signatures)¹:

UNDP Regional Bureau for LAC	UNDP Regional Hub RBLAC Panama
Print Name: Jessica Faieta	Print Name: Richard Barathe
Date:	Date:

I.Development Challenge

The call to make risk reduction a central dimension of the development agenda is a way to ensure that disasters and climate change do not derail development progress or that development strategies do not inadvertently create new risks. Risk reduction is understood as a way to protect development investments as well as an opportunity to shift development towards building resilience.

UNDP’s recently developed DRR flagship programme “5-10-50” is dedicated to addressing this challenge in support of the Sendai Framework for Action. 5-10-50 aims to enable 50 countries to move towards risk-informed development over a period of 10 years, through 5 mutually reinforcing interventions: risk assessment and communication, inclusive risk governance, urban and local-level risk management, preparedness and early warning–early action, and resilient recovery.

In terms of Preparedness and Early Warning Systems (EWS) the central problems include “weak warning and poor response leading to increased life and economic losses from disasters, thus harming societal resilience and hindering sustainable development”. Most mortalities and economic losses result from hydro-meteorological disasters including floods, storms and droughts, indicating a failure of early warning and preparedness systems, since timely warning and response can reduce losses. Cumulative negative impact, contributed to in part by inadequate early warning systems, can result in disease, displacement, increased poverty, and shock to family and community wellbeing; at a national level, the lack of early warning and preparedness in face of an imminent threat can result in damage to natural resources, eco-systems and human resources, increased social unrest and civil conflicts, and shock to national sustainable development goals. The immediate causes identified are high population exposure, poorly structured housing, lack of timely and understandable early warning, and response by authorities and communities; dynamic pressures such as weak warning infrastructure & capacities, lack of multi-disciplinary coordination, weak response capacities, as well as unplanned urbanization, climate variability, and environmental degradation exacerbate the problem. Poor governance and poverty are considered the root causes of the problem².

Challenges facing early warning systems include substantial differences in hazard monitoring and forecasting capacities; weak coordination amongst hazard monitoring agencies, decision-makers, emergency responders, civil society and other stakeholders; and limited early warning dissemination or poor message targeting.

Some of the solutions to address such challenges include strengthening capacities of national DRM authorities and hazard monitoring/forecasting departments; strengthening early warning communication to decision-makers, stakeholders and at-risk communities; enhancing coordination between different actors for effective transmission of early warning; applying a variety of technologies and means of communication for targeted audiences; and building community based preparedness and response capacity.

This project will contribute to some of these solutions in the Caribbean, addressing specific challenges and needs at a national level, drawing on existing expertise and tools.

The Caribbean Context

The Caribbean is a region prone to a range of natural hazards including floods, hurricanes, landslides, earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis, being the second most hazard prone region in the world. The region, extending in a wide arc from the Bahamas in the north to Guyana and Suriname in the south, has a population of more than 40 million living in Small Island Developing States (SIDS), especially challenged by climate change and extreme meteorological events, due to their isolated geographic situation, insularity, ecological fragility and the social and economic disadvantages related to their small size. Caribbean SIDS include Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, the Bahamas, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Cuba, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the Netherlands Antilles, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos, and the United States Virgin Islands. Most of them are within the recognized hurricane belt and flooding is one of the most frequent hydro-meteorological hazard affecting the socio-economic development of many Caribbean islands.

Human and economic losses stemming from natural disasters have increased over the past century in the Latin American and Caribbean region. The susceptibility of the region’s economies to natural disasters impacts their developmental possibilities. The primary hazards in the Caribbean are hydro-meteorological (intense rains and wind, hurricanes, droughts) and geo-physical (ie. landslides and earthquakes) in nature.

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  Flooding, most prevalent in the hurricane season, since heavy rains are often caused by hurricanes, or tropical storms, is one of the most frequently occurring natural disasters in the Caribbean, affecting agricultural and economic sectors. For example, 2005 and 2006 Guyana floods resulted in $72.5 million in damage to the agricultural sector, negatively impacting the country’s development. Most recently, 2010 flooding as a result of Tropical Storm Nicole caused damage to infrastructure in Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Barbados, Antigua, Saint Vincent, and Belize among other countries in the region³.
  

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  Hurricanes are a seasonal hazard in the Caribbean, as tropical depressions in the Atlantic build strength and move across the Caribbean basin. They can be devastating, leaving a great number of casualties and population affected due to house damages. Some of the most recent hurricanes that hit the Caribbean include 2008 Hurricanes Gustav and Ike (almost 180 casualties in the region)⁴; 2010 Hurricane Tomas (44 casualties in the region)⁵, 2012 Hurricane Sandy (80 casualties in the region)⁶, 2016 Hurricane Mathew (551 casualties in the region, 546 of them occurring in Haiti)⁷.
  

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  Droughts affect the economic and social sectors of several Caribbean countries, impacting agriculture, tourism industry, and water resources. Since 1990, the Caribbean has experienced several drought events, with the most severe in terms of intensity and economic impact occurring in 1997 and 2009-2010. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Caribbean accounts for seven of the world’s top 36 water-stressed countries. Countries like Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Kitts and Nevis as water-scarce with less than 1000 m3 freshwater resources per capita⁸. A Global Assessment Report (GAR) 2010 case study from the region⁹ indicates that key sectors, such as the agriculture and water resources, are particularly sensitive to drought, and demonstrate that the region has low resilience to this hazard.
  

Based on an analysis of different vulnerability indices, the 7 countries selected for the implementation of this project, are among the most vulnerable in the region. Haiti, Dominican Republic and Cuba are among one of the countries at highest risk in the Caribbean; Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Lucia, Dominica and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines are among the most impacted by climate change¹⁰. These vulnerabilities underscore the need to bolster their early warning and preparedness capacities.

Problem

As identified in the DIPECHO Humanitarian Implementation Plan (HIP) 2017, response and preparation capacities in the Caribbean have improved. However, the HIP outlines the need for further action to address preparedness capacities, reinforce EWS and foster exchanges between countries and linkages with regional institutions. HIP specifically identify that “collaboration between countries on Early Warning Systems to exchange on good practices should be fostered”, as well as the “compilation of DRR tools and processes endorsed at national and regional level, led by national systems in coordination with the CDEMA, EU Delegations and other development actors” are priority areas for action. Although there has been considerable investment in EWS at a national and regional level in the Caribbean, some gaps still need to be addressed, in order to strengthen preparedness and response of Caribbean countries at national and community level.

The report “Updates on Disaster Risk Reduction Priorities for the Caribbean”, prepared under the framework of the CDM Signature Event held in November 2016 in Barbados, reveals the immediate needs in the region requiring attention to achieve the implementation of the CDM strategy and the Sendai Framework in the Caribbean. EWS are one of the 5 priorities for the region¹¹.

Early warning is a major element of disaster risk reduction, preventing loss of life and reducing the material and economic impact of a disaster. Its effectiveness relies in the timely provision of disaster risk information, providing guidance on how to act upon warnings, and reinforcing the need for preparedness. An Early Warning System (EWS) is “the set of capacities needed to generate and disseminate timely and meaningful warning information to enable individuals, communities and organizations threatened by a hazard to prepare and to act appropriately and in sufficient time to reduce the possibility of harm or loss”¹².

There are many existing EWS initiatives in the Caribbean, but, as recognized in the Caribbean EWS workshop report (Barbados, April 2016), EWS still needs to be strengthened. There is a need for clearer understanding about what capacity is being generated and for whom, as multiple players and standards are involved in EWS in the region. The Caribbean EWS report recognizes the importance of the community component of EWS, including vulnerable groups (women, children and youth, migrants, persons with disabilities, and the elderly) that need to be integrated with the national systems, receive targeted messaging and early engagement, and focused coordination, governance, and legislative measures to ensure coverage and strengthened integrated EWS. Other gaps include the lack of specific policy guidance on integrated EWS; lack of enacted DRR legislation; inadequate institutional support for the DRR function; and, a tendency for a single hazard approach. Priorities in the region are identified as more integrated institutional arrangements for EWS; harmonization of EWS in the Caribbean; common alerting protocol EWS; and integrating vulnerable groups into DRR process through EWS. The 2016 Caribbean EWS Desk Review also highlights the importance of addressing EWS capacity needs in the DRM knowledge management programmes; supporting the development and enhancement of EWS in national policies; and promoting national level dialogue on EWS development, quality assurance, performance indicators, and sustainability. The November 2016 report on DRR priorities for the Caribbean highlights that a lot efforts have already been undertaken in the region, but that these were not harmonized and/or they only addressed some parts of the EWS or some communities/areas. The report highlights the need to link community systems to national architecture, consider EWS financing and the development of indicators for assessing EWS functioning.

EWS effectiveness relies on involvement of communities at risk, public education and awareness, and communication of warnings, contributing to a constant state of preparedness. Understood as a system which encompasses four inter-related elements (pillars) made up of 1) risk knowledge, 2) monitoring & warning service, 3) dissemination & communication, and 4) response capability, evidence of successfully integrated EWS at a national or sub-regional is lacking.

Based on the comparative analysis of the 2016 Caribbean EWS Desk Review, the 2016 Caribbean EWS Workshop report, the EWS recommendations from the November 2016 report on DRR priorities in the Caribbean, and the needs assessment in the project target countries, the main gaps identified in EWS in the region include:¹³

Lack of integrated Early Warning Systems

The needs assessment in five target countries revealed that EWS solutions should be directed at more effective hazard monitoring (pillar 2), developing technical skills, improving community based risk perception analysis, and systematic approach to vulnerability assessments to build risk knowledge (pillar 1). Regarding the communication component (pillar 3) and response capacity (pillar 4), there is a need to strengthen alerting, evacuation and preparation capacities for end-users and improve both risk information flow from forecasters to population at risk and feedback mechanisms between communities and institutions. Technical capacity in operation of EWS equipment needs to be addressed, as well as the enactment of legislation in governing EWS, which lend themselves to greater sustainability. The lack of integrated EWS reveals the need to apply concrete solutions and address the gaps at each country level. In Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, there have been advances in risk knowledge and hazard monitoring/forecasting, however there are notable gaps. Countries report limited capacity to disseminate and communicate alerts due to lack of human resource, technical skills and equipment. Overall there are needs related to capacity strengthening, baseline data development, EWS for flood and storms, data monitoring networks, local disaster management and ongoing testing of plans and simulations so that the end-users can take appropriate response measures. Feedback mechanisms to inform the authorities on the state of community readiness are also lacking. Risk perception, sharing of risk information at community level, and integration of community level EWS into national architecture remains weak; in particular the needs of vulnerable and special groups (such as women, children and youth, migrants, persons with disabilities, and the elderly) are not adequately addressed through the current communication and broadcasting system. There is weak coordination at a national level to communicate risk information, and sustaining achievements and investments remains a concern. In order to ensure effectiveness of EWS to end-users, there is a need to address forecasting, dissemination and communication of alerts, feedback strategies for community readiness, sharing of risk information at community level and national coordination mechanisms. The Dominican Republic has worked on EWS preparedness, but has identified the design of EWS protocols, unified guidelines and advocacy as a priority area. In June 2016, the National Emergency Committee (CNE) and CDEMA signed a cooperation agreement to share DRM policies, build capacity and promote knowledge exchange, with a stated focus on EWS.

Need to strengthen EWS communication

EWS communication gaps needs to be addressed, including public awareness with common approaches to warning the population, inclusion of vulnerable groups in warnings, creation of material sensitive to these groups, and standardization of alerts for different hazards and of key messages. The 2016 EWS Desk Review recalls that recent assessments of existing early warning systems show that in most cases communication systems and adequate response plans are missing, and that early warning communications need to be addressed. The IFRC needs assessment states that EWS communication needs enhancement of hazard specific products, as well as a coordinated mechanism that collects, inputs, produces and disseminates relevant information in a timely, efficient and effective manner, to allow all members of the Disaster Management System to communicate and collaborate with concerted actions. This argues for increased advocacy at the national levels, and for regional commitment to facilitate access to EWS existing information products.

Tools to support EWS are not available or accessible

There is a need for improved access and knowledge of existing EWS tools to strengthening integrated approaches and technical capacity for EWS and preparedness. There is a need to have the existing tools organized and categorized effectively for better access and use, in the main languages of the region. EWS Toolkits compiling EWS tools exist, but the design and content needs to be improved and promoted across the region.

Improve EWS Coordination at regional and national level

There is a need for coordination of EWS initiatives and regional harmonization of efforts in a Caribbean EWS strategy/vision on EWS linked to the CDM, towards a shared EWS agenda. It is recommended to explore how regional agencies may provide support to designated EWS authorities at the national level. Alerts for different hazards and key messages should be standardized and coordinated, at national and at regional level. To do so, partnership with regional DRR agencies and actors in the region, such as the EWS Consortium, CDEMA and IFRC, would ensure coordination of efforts for integrated EWS, including the community component.

Integrate Community EWS into National EWS

There is a need for the expansion of Community Early Warning Systems (ie: adaptation of IFRC toolkit to the Caribbean, establishment of training working group, timely engagement of stakeholder for buy-in and including, reaching and empowering vulnerable groups - at all stages of EWS, including the design) to address their specific needs. Advocacy for community development integration into wider development discourse (National and Regional) is recognized to be important for EWS efficiency and end-users benefit.

Ensure quality of EWS

Performance objectives and standards for EWS (Ie: indicators), addressing EWS are lacking. Those would help in objective EWS monitoring and reporting. A standardized tool for assessing and evaluating EWS is recognized to be key for ensuring the quality of EWS in the region and identify/prioritize possible gaps to be addressed. This tool should include the needs of vulnerable groups and a gender analysis.

Good Practices need to be shared

The reports recognize that further examination of successful models of integrated and multi-hazard EWS, such as the Cuban model, is needed. The identification, selection, sharing and use of good practices in the region would be extremely beneficial to all countries.

EWS Advocacy

Advocacy for integrating Community EWS into national systems, as well as for vulnerable groups to empower them in EWS, through a public awareness and education advocacy and campaigning is essential for EWS functioning and sustainability.

Lack of National Commitment to Sustainability

At national levels, there is a need to strengthening EWS Governance Framework and stakeholder engagement, as well as national discussions on costs and benefits on EWS investments, value chain analysis and prioritization of actions. Dialogues on sustainability of EWS should include institutional arrangements and financing. The handover of EWS tools, considered as a process that allows institutionalization of tools and ensure government commitment to resourcing EWS, is key to this project. For achieving this, regional coordination of activities and technical assistance is needed, being UNDP key in this role, coordinating actions for advocacy with relevant stakeholders and communication with other DIPECHO partners implementing projects in the region.

Problem Tree Diagram

Preparedness and EWS development challenge in the Caribbean