After Hurricane Melissa struck the Caribbean on October 28, Audrey Azoulay announced emergency support for Jamaica, Cuba and Haiti. This aid is intended to sustain educational continuity, assess damage to cultural heritage and strengthen the reliability of information during times of crisis through media-focused programmes.
“It is important to be as close as possible to populations in times of crisis. Together with our regional partners, we are taking action after Hurricane Melissa struck the Caribbean to restore education, protect heritage and ensure reliable information, which is vital in times of crisis,” said Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO.
In total, more than 2 million people have been affected and thousands of residents forced to relocate. The material damage is also considerable: tons of debris, hundreds of educational facilities and cultural sites impacted, and communication systems heavily damaged. In the three countries, hundreds of schools have suffered major damage, compromising educational continuity for thousands of students as well as access to food.
In Jamaica, the country most affected in the region, UNESCO’s international experts deployed on an emergency basis, joined the damage and needs assessment launched with the United Nations. Using satellite imagery, UNESCO has already assessed the condition of 142 Jamaican cultural sites, confirming damage to six of them.
In Jamaica, UNESCO’s emergency support will notably help replace teaching materials and classroom equipment damaged by the hurricane, provide psychosocial support for teachers and urgently stabilize monuments such as Saint John’s Church in Saint Elizabeth, which was severely affected.
In Haiti, emergency assistance aims to carry out a hydrogeological assessment of groundwater sources that supply water points inside and around school infrastructures, contaminated by flooding.
Finally, in Cuba, support will be provided to journalists through the strengthening of a fact-checking platform, to facilitate access to reliable information in times of crisis. Other measures, such as training teachers in psychosocial support for students, purchasing school supplies and acquiring equipment to access World Heritage sites, are also being developed.
Beyond national support, UNESCO will also implement regional training programs to strengthen prevention and risk-reduction capacities and to build resilience against increasingly frequent extreme climate events.
The Director-General calls for the urgent mobilization of Member States to support UNESCO’s emergency response in the Caribbean. In total, UNESCO has already committed $300,000 in funds.
Source, UNESCO
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