Email

Print

The objective of the project is to enhance the capacity of city dwellers in responding to, and mitigating the adverse effects of disasters. Today a number of key partners and stakeholders in the business of disaster response met at the conference room of St. Catherine's Academy to attend an introductory workshop. Here's more...

Lily Bowman - Exec. Director - Belize Red Cross
"What we will be doing today, is that we will be presenting the elements of disaster risk reduction. What we need from our partners is to tell us how they think we should proceed, to implement this pilot project. What is the first thing that we should do? I know that we need to do some vulnerability and capacity assessments. Where do we start? We know the areas that we have to work in. We know the schools that we have to work in. We know what we have to do, but we need them to own the project as well. We need them to come in, help to guide us, learn from us, as well as teach us. We need them to help us gather information, and eventually in the end, they will have designed the project themselves."

Jim McFadzean
"In your welcome remarks, you mentioned that the urban areas - Belize City, Belmopan - were not necessarily prepared for the full extent of the disaster. What were some of those shortcomings that the Red Cross was able to identify?"

Lily Bowman
"Okay, Jim, for instance, because a lot of our work - and I am speaking here for the Red Cross - has been concentrated on rural communities - we have several rural communities well prepared to respond, we did not see that readiness to respond here in Belize City. It is really because the people might now know all the facts of how to respond. It's not only about what we can give after a hurricane, but it is about how you can help your family. For instance, how many people have a family emergency plan? You should have an emergency plan that tells each member of the family what to do in the case of a hurricane, or what to do in the case of a flood. Those are some of the things that we need to bring now to the city."

The timeline for completion of the project is expected to last 5 months.