Lidra Remacka’s eight-month (July 2018 to March 2019) consultancy on behalf of the UNICEF Eastern Caribbean Office, as described in the Sustainability Frontiers October 2018 Bulletin has been extended until December 2019.
The aim of the consultancy is to design and implement a safe school program and to mainstream resilience principles into the education system at national level while also supporting the elaboration of disaster risk management at school level. The work will continue to involve working closely with Ministries of Education in the Eastern Caribbean whose countries are deeply affected by natural disasters, i.e. i.e. Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago and Turks & Caicos. These island nations were severely affected by hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017. Lidra is based in Barbados. It will also involve continuing close engagement with the Caribbean Disaster Management Agency (CDEMA), the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OESC), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) on the implementation of the Comprehensive Safe School program in the region.
The extended consultancy will, among other things, focus on:
- Implementing the three pillars of Comprehensive School Safety framework through education policy and practices aligned with disaster management institutions
- Updating the Caribbean Regional Road Map on School Safety
- Monitoring progress and achievements in the implementation of the Caribbean Regional Roadmap
- Exploring mechanisms and policy development and implementation on school safety issues at both national and school level.
- Identifying pathways for curriculum interventions on DRR and resilience education in pre and in-service professional development
- Providing an avenue for identifying and addressing emerging issues related to school safety, such as climate change impacts, youth engagement
- Building an institutional and community-wide capacity that promotes and strengthens a culture of safety and resilience.
Lidra is currently a member of the two organizational committees preparing for the Youth Forum and Second Ministerial Forum on School Safety in the Caribbean to be held respectively from 25 to 26 and 29 to 30 April 2019. Both Forums will be strongly linked.
The Second Ministerial Forum on School Safety in the Caribbean is a follow-up on the Forum held in April 2017. It will respond to the need for a collaborative and coordinated approach among actors in the region’s education sector. It will contribute to the implementation of: CDEMA’s Regional Comprehensive Disaster Management (CDM) Strategy and Programming Framework 2014-2024; UNISDR’s Worldwide Initiative for Safe Schools (WISS); the Caribbean Safe School Initiative; the Samoa Action Plan for SIDS, the Global Action Program on Education for Sustainable Development; the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The Youth Forum, My Island, My Life, aims to identify safety issues around the three pillars of the Caribbean Schools Safety Initiative. The Forum intends to be a platform through which young people can contribute to policy discussions through their collective ideas, solutions and innovations. The active and meaningful engagement of youth in the design, implementation, follow up and review of safety issued around the three pillars of the Initiative represents a chance to explore ways and means of promoting youth development and engagement. The results of this Forum will be presented to all Ministers and decision makers during the Second Ministerial Forum that is being held in St. Vincent & the Grenadines