With the “rainy” season in Trinidad and Tobago beginning next month, The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) subregional headquarters for the Caribbean is taking its Damage and Loss Assessment (DaLA) methodology training to Tobago from 23-25 May 2018.

ECLAC’s DaLA training course will provide participants with an increased capacity and awareness for disaster risk reduction on the island. The training course is designed for policymakers and professionals involved directly with disaster risk management and risk reduction. In addition to officials of the Tobago Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), specialists from sectors such as water, electricity, education, and health have also been invited to participate.

Some of the areas to be covered over the three days include an introduction and basic concepts of the Disaster Assessment Methodology, the role of planning in disaster risk management and its impact on the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), how the population can be affected, and how areas such as housing, electricity, telecommunications, transportation and tourism may be affected.

ECLAC’s methodology follows a multisectoral approach to estimate the effects and impacts of a disaster. Since 2015, ECLAC has already completed four other courses in the Caribbean, which have benefited officials from nine countries and two territories. Through these training efforts, ECLAC hopes to create capable disaster assessment teams in the subregion, in recognition of the Caribbean as a region that is very vulnerable to disasters.

The training workshop in Tobago was requested by TEMA – who is responsible for disaster management on the island of Tobago –, and will be supported by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

For further information, please contact Alexander Voccia at [email protected] or Denise Balgobin at [email protected]. Telephone: (868) 224-8067/224-8075.