Ecobreves – CARIBBEAN: Building a Common Natural Disaster Strategy

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

HAVANA, Dec 19 2011 (IPS) - Academic institutions and cooperation agencies from Spain and Cuba are organizing a forum in Havana on natural disaster risks in the Caribbean, with the aim of contributing to the design of integrated regional response strategies. The forum, to be held May 15-18, forms part of a cooperation project involving universities and communities of the Greater Caribbean, Manuel Gil, director of environmental sustainability and climate change at the Spanish Office for Technical Cooperation in Havana, told Tierramérica.

It is hoped that the event will attract a large number of participants, including representatives of Haiti, the Dominican Republic, the other Caribbean islands and Central America, he added.

The agenda will include discussions between academic institutions and with leaders of communities impacted by natural disasters.

The forum is being organized by the Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain and the José Antonio Echeverría Higher Polytechnic Institute of Cuba, and funded by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation.