The Inter-American Development Bank today announced a US$800,000 grant for a project to improve disaster risk management for the tourist sector in the Caribbean and a US$785,000 grant for climate information applied to agricultural risk management in the Andean countries.
These initiatives, recently approved by IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno, are among 11 projects selected by the Initiative for the Promotion of Regional Public Goods in its yearly call for proposals. The initiative distributes a total of US$10 million in grants each year to support innovative solutions to common or transnational problems of countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Under this mechanism, the IDB receives and selects proposals from countries that tackle problems where a collective approach offers comparative advantages over individual efforts. The IDB was the first multilateral institution to create in 2004 an operational instrument for the promotion of regional public goods. The initiative benefits its 26 borrowing member countries in a wide range of areas.
The Caribbean
IDB financing will foster development of a regional disaster risk management framework for the tourism sector in the Caribbean. The project will seek to mainstream disaster risk management into productive sectors of the economy. It will consist of the development and adoption of a regional disaster risk management strategy and action plan for the tourism sector, including the formulation of standards for vulnerability assessments and risk mapping applied to the sector. The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA) and the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) will be strengthened in disaster risk management.
CDERA will work in conjunction with the CTO, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Regional Organization for Standards and Quality and the University of the West Indies, and with the countries of the Caribbean. Each agency will bring its institutional mandate, expertise and regional constituencies to the execution of the project. The overall cost of the project is US$1 million, of which the IDB will finance 80 percent and the participating institutions will provide the balance.
Andean Countries
Financing was approved for a project to improve climate information applied to agricultural risk management. The project aims to reduce the socio-economic impact of adverse weather on agriculture in countries of the Andean Region.
The project will help countries to accurately predict seasonal climate changes and establish a regional climate information system that will assist decision makers in taking preventive measures and managing risk in the agricultural sector. A system for disseminating climate information to agricultural communities will also be created, and the national meteorological services will be strengthened in the use of the climate information system.
The Centro Internacional de Investigación para el Fenómeno El Niño (CIIFEN or International Center on El Niño Research) based in Guayaquil, Ecuador, will carry out the initiative in conjunction with the national meteorological services of the participating countries. The overall cost of the project will be US$1,311,000. The IDB will finance 60 percent and CIIFEN and the national meteorological services will provide the balance.