Nassau, The Bahamas, 2025 – The Fifteenth Meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) concluded with several key decisions and approvals aimed at enhancing regional disaster resilience.
The High-level Meeting, chaired by the Honourable Leon Lundy, Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister of The Bahamas, brought together Ministers and senior disaster management officials from across CDEMA’s 20 Participating States.
A key outcome of the Meeting was the endorsement by the Council for the strategic focus of a more self-reliant approach in the region to advance the Regional Response Mechanism (RRM), given the geopolitical situation presently existing globally.
The proposal includes increased investment in resilient infrastructure, strengthening disaster risk financing strategies, and improving multi-hazard early warning systems.
Support was also further expressed for finalizing the Comprehensive Disaster Management (CDM) Strategy Beyond 2024, which will extend to 2030 and serve as the blueprint for building resilience in the Caribbean. Additionally, approval was also granted for the 2025-2026 Work Plan of the CDEMA Coordinating Unit with guidance provided on further enhancing resource mobilization efforts, including expanding financial and technical partnerships.
The Council also welcomed progress on the establishment of the CDEMA Multi-Source Trust Fund, which is being established to enhance the Agency’s financial sustainability and response capacity. In a move to enhance resilient construction standards within the region, the Council endorsed the development of the Code of Practice and Caribbean Vocational Qualification for Safer Building, a new suite of technical documents developed to guide safer residential construction across Participating States.
It also approved the Multi-Hazard Framework for Risk Assessment in the Caribbean, a regionally developed tool to guide risk-informed development planning, the Strategic and Marketing Plans for the CDEMA Regional Training Centre (RTC), a Regional Emergency Telecommunications Strategy, and a revised ICT Contingency Plan.
Ahead of the formal proceeding, the Commonwealth of The Bahamas was confirmed as Chair of the Council of Ministers for the period July 2025 to June 2026, with Trinidad and Tobago serving as Deputy Chair. Ministers also adopted the Report of the 14th Meeting of the Council and approved the revised Administrative Budget of the CDEMA Coordinating Unit (CU) for the financial year beginning September 1, 2025.