7 March 2014: The UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the Caribbean Catastrophic Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) hosted a meeting of Caribbean Government agencies, emergency management professionals, and civil society representatives to discuss assessments of disasters occurring in the region from 2006-2013.

The meeting convened in Castries, Santa Lucia, from 25-26 February 2014, and provided experts the opportunity to compare post-disaster impact assessments made by ECLAC, loss estimates based on CCRIF’s model, and actual economic impacts six to nine months after an event. Participants also focused on how ECLAC’s damage and loss assessment (DaLA) methodology can be effectively linked to countries’ Post Disaster Needs Assessments (PDNAs), which estimate immediate human recovery needs. ECLAC will release an updated version of its methodology this year. Its assessments consider economic, social and environmental impacts, including changes in capital and production flows.

Meeting participants formulated four recommendations, calling on ECLAC to: use the DaLA for both a preliminary (immediate) and secondary (later) assessment; expand the methodology to include more environmental assets; standardize data collection; and boost the capacity for Caribbean professionals to conduct DaLAs and PDNAs.

Since signing a Memorandum of Understanding in 2010, ECLAC and CCRIF have been cooperating to assist national response agencies, planning and development ministries, and related authorities in Caribbean Governments develop disaster risk reduction (DRR) and mitigation policies. The partnership aims to reduce socioeconomic, physical, and environmental damage from natural disasters. [ECLAC Press Release] [ECLAC Meeting Announcement] [CCRIF Webiste] [IISD RS Sources]