Understanding Risk Caribbean

About Understanding Risk Caribbean

UR Caribbean will be held from May 27 – June 1, 2019 at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Cave Hill Campus’ Errol Barrow Center for Creative Imagination. The week-long event consists of three conference days of plenaries, technical sessions and cultural activities, followed by two days of workshops and side events. It also provides space for multimedia exhibits and bilateral meetings throughout the week.

UR Caribbean is organized by the World Bank’s Latin America and Caribbean Region Disaster Risk Management team and the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR), in partnership with the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), and will be hosted by the Government of Barbados. The conference is co-financed by the European Union-funded Africa, Caribbean, Pacific – European Union (ACP-EU) Natural Disaster Risk Reduction (NDRR) Program, managed by the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR).

Why Understanding Risk Caribbean?

Following the devastation caused by Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017 across the Caribbean, there has been increased emphasis on identifying, assessing and reducing disaster risk in the region. UR Caribbean will provide an informal platform for the public and private sectors, regional disaster risk management agencies, non-governmental organizations, multilateral development banks and donors across the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, Caribbean Community, and Overseas Countries and Territories to:

• Identify gaps and needs that exist in disaster risk information across agencies and sectors.
• Obtain in-depth training in areas such as coastal protection, risk financing, community engagement and physical and urban resilience, among others.
• Share knowledge and best practices from analyses, studies, projects and business practices.
• Experience innovations from global partners that can facilitate disaster risk management processes.
• Launch two programs financed by the European Union that will support Caribbean countries in planning for long-term resilience and climate-smart growth strategies.
• Present initiatives financed by the Government of Canada and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development to enhance disaster risk reduction and disaster risk finance interventions across the region.

What is Understanding Risk?

UR is a global community of 8,000+ experts and practitioners active in the creation, communication, and use of disaster risk information. Members share knowledge and experience, collaborate, and discuss innovations and best practice in risk assessment. The community convenes every two years at UR Forums – five-day events that highlight groundbreaking work, facilitate nontraditional partnerships, and showcase new technical know-how in disaster risk identification. Past global forums were held in London, Cape Town, Washington D.C. and Mexico City. In the interim, regional conferences are also held to galvanize localized efforts and build regional capacity in the area of disaster risk assessment. Regional events in 2018 were held in the Balkans and the Pacific Islands.

If you have any questions, please email URCaribbean@understandrisk.org.