Organized by United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management - Americas Regional Committee (UN-GGIM: Americas) through its Caribbean Geospatial Development Initiative (CARIGEO) Steering Committee, in collaboration with the UN-GGIM Working Group on Geospatial Information for Disaster Risk Management (WG GI4DRM) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

The Caribbean and the Americas are highly vulnerable to tropical storms during the annual North Atlantic hurricane season. In July 2024, Hurricane Beryl made devastating impact as a Category 5 hurricane, severely affecting territories such as Carriacou and Petit Martinique (Grenada), Union Island and Canouan (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Jamaica, parts of the Yucatan Peninsula, and the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Given the magnitude of the damage, affected countries drew on existing partnerships and established new collaborations to facilitate assessment, monitoring, and response. The intensive use of human resources, technologies, and geospatial information was highlighted to support the monitoring, response, restoration, and aid distribution phases.

In this context, the webinar addresses key principles of Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM), sharing lessons learned from Member States and regional and international agencies involved in the preparation, response, and recovery phases of Hurricane Beryl. Emphasis is placed on the use of geospatial technologies, geospatial information, and Earth observation data.

The CARIGEO initiative, promoted by the UN-GGIM Steering Committee: Americas, seeks to strengthen the capacity of Caribbean Member States to use geospatial technologies and information as a tool to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and address regional issues through increased awareness, capacity building, and technical cooperation.

For its part, the UN-GGIM Working Group on Geospatial Information for Disaster Risk Management (WG GI4DRM) has been promoting the implementation of the Strategic Framework on Geospatial Information and Services for Disasters since 2015, in support of the Sendai Framework (2015-2023). This group fosters partnerships between national disaster management agencies and mapping/geospatial information agencies to ensure access to accurate, timely, and reliable information before, during, and after catastrophic events.

This joint effort represents a decisive step toward consolidating evidence-based strategies for risk management in the region.

Target audience:

A diverse array of stakeholders within the Caribbean subregion and wider Americas region, engaged in disaster risk, reduction and management; the use of geospatial technologies and provision of geospatial information and earth observation data to aid all phases of disasters; government, non-government, practitioners and citizens interested in knowledge exchange, best practices, experience sharing and innovations in support of preparations for the 2025 North Atlantic Hurricane Season and beyond.

Agenda

Welcome and Opening Remarks

Moderator: Marcathian Alexander, CARIGEO Steering Committee & Government of St. Lucia 

• Leonardo Scharth Loureiro Silvat, Vice President, UN-GGIM: Americas 
• Michelle Edwards, Jamaica, Co-Chair, UN-GGIM: Working Group on Geospatial Information for Disaster Risk Management 
• Martha Villagomez Co-Chair, UN-GGIM: Americas Working Group on Geospatial Information and Services for Disasters

Session 1: Organizing as a region for Disasters

Valrie Grant, DBA, UN-GGIM: Americas Private Sector Network 
  Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA): Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) for Comprehensive Disaster Management (CDM) Programme

Michelle Edwards, Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Operations (ODPEM) of Jamaica
  Activation and response by a National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC): Jamaica

Simone Lloyd, GISP NERGIST, National Spatial Data Management Branch, Ministry of Economic Growth & Job Creation 
  Jamaica’s National Emergency Response GIS Team (NERGIST): Mechanism and international charter activation - Hurricane Beryl response

Michelle Forbes, National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) 
  Hurricane Beryl coordination, response and recovery: St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Session 2: Role of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), Geospatial and Financing organizations within the Caribbean

Kemesha Swaby, United Nations Resident Coordinator’s Office
  United Nations Coordination and response for Hurricane Beryl in the Caribbean

Zachary Foltz, United States Geological Survey (USGS), supporting European Space Agency (ESA)
  International charter on space and major disasters activation for Hurricane Beryl

Luis Velasquez, Map Action
  Map action's response in the Caribbean: Hurricane Beryl

Paul Saunders, Caribbean Development Bank
  Caribbean Development Bank (CBD) Financing

Discussion and Summary 

Michelle St. Claire, CARIGEO Steering Committee and Land Surveyor, Lands and Surveys Department, Barbados

Closing Remarks

Simone Lloyd, GISP, UN-GGIM: Americas Caribbean Vocal, Chair, CARIGEO Steering Committee and UN-GGIM WG GI4DRM