Minister of Social Transformation, Samantha Marshall, has urged for the issue of inequality in our society to be addressed in light of International Disaster Risk Reduction Day.

She believes that this is the only way for Disaster Risk Management, or Comprehensive Disaster Management as it’s known in the Caribbean, to be effective for generations to come.

Marshall emphasized the need to constantly reduce the vulnerabilities and risks faced by our nation and region.

The National Disaster Management system has been working towards addressing these issues through increased stakeholder engagement and improving its programs to serve a wider range of public needs.

Marshall suggested that the system could further improve through enhanced local and national collaborations aimed at developing more inclusive, socially sensitive, and responsive plans, education and outreach initiatives to help create an informed populace and enhance knowledge-based decision-making development process.

Marshall also called for more frequent training in areas such as shelter management, with consideration for gender-based violence and vulnerable groups in the population, damage assessment, and community emergency response teams.

She also advocated for the development of early warning capacity and capabilities to reach more stakeholders within the society, in line with the new global “Early Warning for All Initiative”.

She urged for more inclusiveness, training of youth, women, girls and those at the grassroots level. Coordination and collaboration exercises are necessary to bring together a wide array of stakeholders to work more cohesively in responding to traditional and developing hazards.

All these actions according to Marshall, will help strengthen our nation’s social fabric, leading to stronger national systems, a more knowledgeable and capable populace, and better coordination between sectors, agencies, organizations, and the public.

This, she added will enable us to face the ever-changing hazards better, respond more effectively and efficiently to impacts, and recover more quickly while building back better. In short, it makes our future more resilient.