2006 Press Releases
Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance aims to reduce impact of disasters in The Bahamas
November 8, 2006
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) provided the Caribbean and Latin America with $7,156,819, in 2006 to reduce vulnerability to disasters and enhance governments’ abilities to respond to disasters in those regions, which are vulnerable to natural disasters including hurricanes. USAID's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) provided $4.7 million of this funding to support the development of disaster risk management practices in the Caribbean and Latin America through the Regional Disaster Assistance Program (RDAP).
Since 1989, the Regional Disaster Assistance Program has trained nearly 43,000 individuals in 26 countries. The program helps to prepare local, departmental and national emergency action plans. Here in The Bahamas, OFDA partners extensively with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and Bahamian law enforcement agencies to promote natural disaster preparedness, response and mitigation. OFDA funded recent training courses focusing on Initial Damage Assessment and Shelter Management held at the Royal Bahamas Defense Force Base. Similar training was conducted in Exuma in February of this year and OFDA covered the cost for persons from Long Island, Ragged Island, the Exuma Cays and New Providence to attend the course.
In the event a hurricane or natural disaster affects The Bahamas, OFDA makes available $50,000 immediately to assist in the recovery process, while also providing relief supplies. OFDA provides funding to The Bahamas in the areas of technical assistance for program development and implementation, shelter management, initial damage assessment, damage assessment, needs analysis, risk management and school safety.
To promote improved disaster preparedness and response in the health sector, USAID/OFDA supports the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). One million dollars was allocated to PAHO as part of a five-year collaboration geared towards increasing the capacity of health professionals to respond to disasters in Latin American the Caribbean.