From December 6-10, 2010 the 5th Annual Caribbean Conference on Comprehensive Disaster Management, called Strengthening Partnerships to build resilience, was held in Montego Bay, Jamaica under the auspices of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) and the Jamaican Office for Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPM).
Teresa Camacho, coordinator of the Colombia Red Cross IDRL Project, participated as a speaker on a panel dedicated to “Progress in Comprehensive Understanding of Disaster Management through Effective Legislation and Regulations.” This session highlighted the importance of legal preparedness for disasters of great magnitude requiring international cooperation, the IDRL Guidelines and the need to adapt national laws to facilitate international relief and initial recovery assistance in case of a disaster.
Similarly, global progress on IDRL, the origins of the programme as well as its links to global initiatives such as the Hyogo Framework for Action were presented. The progress and findings of the IDRL project in Colombia were also described.
Furthermore, in the same session, the Organization of American States (OAS) introduced its draft study on emergency legislation in the Caribbean. This project, launched in 2009 by the Department of Sustainable Development of the OAS Secretariat seeks to build legislative capacity to strengthen the regulatory frameworks of 11 states of CARICOM and the Dominican Republic and to promote the adequate supply of resources for emergencies.