Inception Report - CDEMA

1. Project background and description
1.1. Project background
Global Climate Change is the most serious threat to sustainable development facing CDEMA Participating
States. The limited adaptive capacity of Caribbean small-island and low-lying states, in addition to rising sea
levels, an escalation in the frequency and intensity of tropical storms and hurricanes, and disruptions in rainfall
and fresh-water supply, requires urgent action for the preservation of their very existence.
In an effort to strengthen regional, national and community level capacity to mitigate and respond to the effects
of climate change, the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) is providing support to the Caribbean Disaster
Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) for the execution of the “Mainstreaming Climate Change into
Disaster Risk Management for the Caribbean Region (CCDM) Project”.
Specifically, this two year project supports Comprehensive Disaster Management (CDM) Outcome 4 :
Enhanced Community Resilience in CDEMA Participating States to Mitigate, Respond to and Recover from the
Adverse Effects of Climate Variability and Change and Disasters and Key Result Area (KRA) 3 of the CDEMA
Work Programme: Capacity of Participating States Enhanced. Specifically KRA 3.3: Communities are more
aware and knowledgeable on disaster management and related procedures including safer building techniques
and KRA 3.3.1 Prevention, preparedness and response/ mitigation in communities is enhanced.
The project seeks to achieve three outcomes:
1) Improved coordination and collaboration between community disaster organisations and other
research/data partners, including climate change entities, for undertaking comprehensive disaster risk
management;
2) Enhanced community awareness and knowledge on disaster management and climate change
procedures; and
3) Enhanced preparedness and response capacity (technical and managerial) for sub-regional and local
level management and response.
1.2. Description of sub-project under this consultancy
For the achievement of Outcome 2 of the project, it is intended that community awareness and knowledge on
climate change and its linkages to disaster risk reduction be enhanced through the development of a Model
Community-based Climate Change Disaster Risk Reduction (MCCCDRR) Programme and a Regional
Mechanism for the coordination of community-based disaster management initiatives.
The MCCCDRR Programme forms the focus of this consultancy and will outline, in a document referred to
here as the MCCCDRR Programme framework, a comprehensive approach to mainstreaming climate change
into community-based disaster risk reduction initiatives. The specific deliverables under this sub-project
consultancy are:
a) Inception report
b) the MCCCDRR Programme framework;
c) a Model Community-based Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction Plan;
d) a Module on Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) for communities, for inclusion in the revised version of
CDEMA’s Community Disaster Preparedness Training Manual;
e) Trainer’s 1 and Participant’s Handbooks to accompany the CCA Module for communities;
1 CANARI recommends that this be re‐named ‘Facilitator’s Handbook’ to more clearly reflect the role that those using the Manual
will be expected to play
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