Montserrat held its first in-country consultation on Monday, 28 April 2025, as part of its efforts to develop a Comprehensive Disaster Management (CDM) Country Work Programme (CWP). The initiative aims to strengthen disaster risk reduction measures across the island.
The consultation, which took the form of a high-level meeting at the Disaster Management Coordination Agency (DMCA), brought together elected leaders and senior government officials. The session featured a presentation outlining the proposed approach to developing the CWP, the priority areas to be addressed, and the expected outcomes.
The Country Work Programme serves as a national blueprint for implementing CDM and will align disaster management efforts with all phases of the disaster cycle—preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery. The CWP also promotes active engagement from key stakeholders across all sectors and will ultimately function as Montserrat’s strategic roadmap for reducing vulnerability and strengthening resilience to natural and technological hazards.
The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), with funding from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), has partnered with the University of the West Indies Disaster Risk Reduction Centre (UWI DRRC) to support the development of Montserrat’s CWP. The programme will be implemented by the DMCA.
Development of the CWP will be guided by findings from Montserrat’s 2024 Comprehensive Disaster Management Audit, which assessed the island’s disaster risk reduction systems and processes in line with regional and international standards. The audit highlighted both significant strengths and critical gaps in Montserrat’s disaster management framework.
The high-level consultation was attended by the Hon. Acting Premier, Veronica Dorsette-Hector; Hon. Minister of Health and Education, Dr Ingrid Buffonge; Hon. Leader of the Opposition, Paul Lewis; Hon. Deputy Governor, Lindorna Lambert-Sweeney; Permanent Secretaries; Policy Advisor at the Governor’s Office, Phil Hickson; and senior technical staff of the DMCA.
This consultation will be followed by an all-day working meeting with technocrats from the public and private sectors. In keeping with CDM’s “all people, all phases” approach, representatives from various organizations will be consulted to provide feedback and contribute to the activities and deliverables of the five-year strategic plan.
Ms. Stacy-Ann Austin, Disaster Risk Management Technical Programming Associate at UWI DRRC, is leading the on-island consultations. Presentations were also delivered by the Director of the DMCA, Mr. Alvin Ryan.
These stakeholder consultations represent a significant step forward in Montserrat’s ongoing commitment to building a safer, more resilient future through coordinated and comprehensive disaster management.
