BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) – The Barbados-based Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) has signed an agreement with the Caribbean Community (Caricom) Development Fund (CDF) formalising a partnership to strengthen disaster response efforts across the region.

The CDF is making available a US$300,000 grant to support the deployment, operation, and coordination of response teams under CDEMA’s Regional Response Mechanism (RRM).

The beneficiary participating states include Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St Lucia, St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.

CDF chief executive officer, Rodinald Soomer, underscored the fund’s commitment to resilience building across the Caribbean, noting that the financial support will ensure that CDEMA has the immediate resources available to respond rapidly and effectively in times of crisis.

“I am pleased as a partner regional institution that we can have this kind of collaboration and for the opportunity to express it in such a tangible way, and through CDEMA, to come to the aid of the region, especially during the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season,” he added.

CDEMA’s executive director, Elizabeth Riley acknowledged the agreement as a timely boost for the region’s preparedness.

“This partnership reflects the spirit of solidarity and shared responsibility that defines our region. By securing these funds, we can enhance the readiness of the regional response mechanism and give our participating states the confidence that support will be available when most needed,” she said.

Under the terms of the agreement, the funds will be used solely for disaster response operations and will directly support humanitarian assistance, logistics, telecommunications, and rapid needs assessment deployments across the region.