BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – The range and quantity of the programmes available for training with respect to disasters are too limited.
That is the view of the recently retired executive director of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), Jeremy Collymore, who made the point while speaking to the media during his last press conference as head of the regional entity. Collymore, who ran the agency for 21 years and oversaw the rebranding of the entity from the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA) to CDEMA in September 2009, said that he is of the firm belief that greater opportunities have to be provided for persons willing to be trained in the area.
“I feel that there needs to be an acceleration of the opportunities and the modes for teaching and sharing policy and practice. That is, within a region that is highly vulnerable, often impacted; the number of products and programmes available for training and education are too limited. So we need to not only offer the products, but offer them in ways that reflect people’s opportunities and status for participating. You can’t offer a full time course for people who can only participate part-time, or a physical presence course with online options,” Collymore stated.
