Background
Towards the end of the twentieth century, severe weather had been increasing, especially in the Caribbean region and the Gulf of Mexico. Being able to control and minimize the damage caused by these disasters is critical to life in that part of the world. The world recognized a need to establish an organization to handle natural disasters in that region and in July 1984 the Pan-Caribbean Disasters Preparedness and Prevention Project (PCDPPP) was established. The Caribbean has battled with independence from its mother European countries for centuries and before the PCDPPP came about the traditional way of handling disasters in the area was though private donors, a method that was heavily dependent on others and failing to help their cause for independence.
The creation of the PCDPPP was a collection of international sponsors such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Canadian International Development Agency, the Government of the Netherlands, and the United Nations Disaster Relief Organization (UNDRO). The PCDPPP failed break free from the direct and indirect dependence the Caribbean had towards Europe and the United States. One significant failure of the PCDPPP was for its participants to fully take part in the organization itself and become more involved with civil society.
In 1989, with the widespread destruction of Hurricane Hugo, a response for a more effective form of natural disaster management and preparedness was recognized. In 1991 the Caribbean Disaster and Emergency Response Agency (CDERA) was created. The Caribbean was moving towards the independence it desired. CDERA was formed with 16 participating Caribbean nations. This way the Caribbean countries had regional support along with international support. Aid from regional sources was now becoming more of a possibility. CDERA would later take a name change to encompass their end goal of not only responding to disasters but managing all types of disasters. Later in the first decade of the twenty first century CDERA became CDEMA, the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency.
Read more about this topic: Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency
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