Workshop on Damage and Needs Assessment

A two -day consultation on Damage and Needs Assessment (DANA) commenced on Tuesday at the National Emergency Management Office (NEMO) Conference Room.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Howie Prince, Director of NEMO said that this consultation comes out of the realization that at some point, St. Vincent and the Grenadines will be under some sort of impact or extreme events.{{more}}

He said that DANA is comprised of a sub-committee which deals with aspects including the organizing and coordinating of surveys in disaster areas to determine the number of deaths, to conduct surveys on roads, bridges and other infrastructure to determine the extent of damage and to provide budgetary support for emergency expenditure.

Prince said that the purpose of the consultation is to review the status of the DANA activities in St Vincent and the Grenadines using the specific baseline and to develop a programme, implementation strategies, plan of action and timeline for implementing the identified activities for the particular Emergency Response Function (ERF).

Clive Lorde, a consultant from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), said that the consultation is designed to go through the process that will help to determine exactly where St. Vincent and the Grenadines stands (in terms of their emergency response systems).

Twenty-five (25) participants from different agencies that form part of DANA took part in the consultation which ran from February 21 to 22.