Regional stakeholders from across the Caribbean gathered in St. Vincent and the Grenadines for the Sixth Project Steering Committee Meeting of the BRICS Programme, hosted by the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) in partnership with the National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO). The two-day meeting, held from June 19–20, 2025, focused on advancing efforts to build regional resilience to disaster risks and climate change impacts.
The BRICS Programme—Building the Resilience of CARIFORUM States to Disaster Risks and Climate Change Impacts—was launched in February 2019 with support from the European Union. It aims to reduce vulnerability in CARIFORUM states by enhancing institutional frameworks, empowering communities, and improving coordination mechanisms for disaster response.
CDEMA Executive Director, Ms. Elizabeth Riley, emphasized the ongoing relevance of the programme. “Through it all, the BRICS Programme has remained a consistent and responsive platform for resilience-building,” she said. “It has evolved through the leadership of this Steering Committee, shaped by decisions made since our first meeting in 2020.”
Riley noted that BRICS has played a vital role throughout multiple regional challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic and increasingly severe hurricane seasons. She credited the continued support of the European Union and ECHO for enabling the programme to strengthen solidarity and local capacity across member states.
Among the BRICS Programme’s key achievements are:
The development of Comprehensive Disaster Management (CDM) Blueprints in nine participating states.
Training of over 200 personnel in logistics, emergency coordination, and early warning systems.
Implementation of locally driven actions to address climate and disaster risks.
NEMO Director Michelle Forbes also highlighted the programme’s importance for St. Vincent and the Grenadines. “The BRICS initiative came at a crucial juncture,” she stated. “In the wake of the catastrophic eruption of La Soufrière in 2021, we faced not just the physical fallout, but also the need for stronger systems. BRICS helped us take those critical next steps.”
The BRICS Programme includes participation from 18 CARIFORUM countries: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the Virgin Islands.
