The Department of Disaster Management (DDM) is partnering with the Caribbean Central American Action (CCAA) to facilitate a Disaster Recovery Workshop for members of the business community in the British Virgin Islands.

The workshop will be held on Thursday, September 3, and is the second in the Disaster Management Workshop series spearheaded by the CCAA under the theme:“Ensuring a Resilient Economy Through Partnership in Disaster Recovery”.

The workshop agenda will feature leaders from the public and private sector, and will be structured around presentations and collaborative discussions geared towards supporting existing public-private collaboration in disaster recovery, and providing information on new tools and strategies that foster this collaboration.The event will also include the signing of an inter-organisational Statement of Purpose to provide ongoing collaboration and support.

Other agencies integrally involved in the workshop are the BVI Chamber of Commerce and Hotel Association (BVICCHA), the Rotary Clubs of the British Virgin Islands and H. Lavity Stoutt Community College, together with longstanding series partner, Tropical Shipping.

Executive Director of CCAA, Ms. Sally Yearwood commented on the importance of ongoing engagement. “As a region, we are acutely aware of the vulnerability of our environments and economies to natural and man-made disasters. Sharing knowledge and experience is an essential part of the preparation, mitigation, and recovery process.”

Deputy Directorof the Department of Disaster Management, Ms. Evangeline Inniss underscored the importance of the workshop for the BVI business community saying, “We are delighted to collaborate with the CCAA, Tropical Shipping and our local partners to bring this very important topic to the business community. As part of the DDM’s comprehensive approach to disaster management, we are engaging all sectors and this workshop serves to further that initiative.”

The Disaster Recovery Workshop will be held from 8:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Maria’s by the Sea. It is open to all businesses and there is no registration fee. Interested persons can contact the following: Sally Yearwood (syearwood@c-caa.org) at CCAA, Leroy Moses (lmoses@tropical.com) at Tropical Shipping, or Sharleen DaBreo at (sdabreo@surfbvi.com) at the Department of Disaster Management.

The Disaster Management Workshop Series has been a flagship programme of CCAA for the past decade. It creates a forum where government and the private sector,along with disaster resilience professionals can discuss the importance of partnerships in the recovery planning process and support the incorporation of disaster planning into daily operations.