The Canada-Caribbean Resilience Facility (CRF) works to achieve more effective and coordinated gender-informed climate-resilient preparedness, recovery, and public financial management practices in nine Caribbean countries. The Facility supports countries by deploying technical experts in the region for close partnership, collaboration and just-in-time support to accelerate implementation of recovery projects and overall resilience-building efforts across the Caribbean.
Highlights
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Components of the CRF
The objective of this component is to enhance and complement country capacities to: (i) accelerate the design and implementation of gender-sensitive and disability-inclusive efficient recovery and resilient investments; and (ii) facilitate access to emergency finance in the aftermath of disasters. This component will establish a multidisciplinary Implementation Support Team (IST) of local and international technical experts that will provide technical assistance and capacity building for resilient recovery and reconstruction, as well as for building overall resilience and accessing emergency funds. Implementation capacity will be increased by transferring knowledge to government staff and addressing implementation bottlenecks in recovery and resilient investments.
The objective of this component is to strengthen the capacity of governments within the region to distribute and manage resources effectively and efficiently in response to natural disasters and emergencies. Technical assistance and implementation support will be provided to help targeted countries’ governments put public financial management systems, protocols, and guidelines in place that can be triggered in the event of a natural disaster or emergency. Activities will strengthen the capacity of governments within the region to integrate required gender-responsive processes into their public financial management practices and public-sector management during natural disasters and emergencies, as well as in recovery and response efforts.
This component will support the administration of the Facility and the management of the program. It will also support the establishment of the Implementation Support Team, as well as promote peer-to-peer knowledge exchange, compile lessons learned and other knowledge and learning products as needed.
CRF Countries
Eligible countries under the CRF include Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Suriname.
Knowledge Products
Regional and country-level activities
Regional activities include training events and assessments that benefit one or more countries simultaneously. Planned regional activities remain relevant and on track towards meeting the project´s objectives as agreed during the Work Plan December 2019 – June 2020.
| Activity | Description |
|---|---|
| Assessment | Preparedness and Recovery Capacity Assessment at sector level. A draft assessment methodology and desk review of the housing sector in Dominica were prepared and further development is ongoing. Operational work: Includes various operational works carried out by the IST, such as institutional analysis, business continuity analysis and other prospective works that are ongoing, as well as mission to Barbados. |
| Assessment | Gender gaps analysis. A draft desk review on the gender status in the nine countries is being finalized. This desk review will inform the assessment on gender responsiveness in preparedness and recovery processes. |
| Capacity Building | Training on contract management. 28 participants from the nine countries enhanced their capacities on contract management. The training was held on May 30 and 31, 2019 in Barbados at the margins of the Understanding Risk Caribbean Conference. |
| Capacity Building | Training on DRM aspects of the new Environmental and Social Framework (ESF). 15 participants from six countries enhanced their knowledge on social and environmental risk management related to the new DRM requirements of the ESF. The training was held on February 19 and 20, 2020. |
| Capacity Building | Training on the Administration and Management of Contracts and the Management and Resolution of Disputes. The attendance to the training of two participants from Dominica was financed by the CRF. The training was held on October 22 to 25, 2019, in Jamaica. |
| Capacity Building | Training on Gender-Responsive Budgeting for Disaster Resilience and Climate Change. The CRF contributed to the training with a session on Gender-Responsive Budgeting for Disaster Resilience and Climate Change. The training was organized by UN Woman. 80+ participants from all countries participated to the online training, held on June 10, 2020. |
| Capacity Building | Organization of training activities in the Work Plan December 2019 - June 2020. This includes the cost to organize all training activities. Three training activities were planned, however because of the COVID-19 pandemic they were postponed to the next work plan. Instead, the CRF took other opportunities and carried out trainings on ESF, administration and management of contracts and gender, mentioned in this table. |
| Country | Comp | Description/Status |
|---|---|---|
| Antigua and Barbuda | C1 | Dialogue with the government is still ongoing. Specific activities have not yet been identified. |
| C2 | Post-Disaster Public Financial Management review conducted. A detailed reform action plan has been developed for implementation under the CRF beginning FY21. Technical assistance provided to develop component of a National Gender Equality Policy and Action Plan. | |
| Belize | C1 | Provided overall support to environmental and social due diligence under the Climate Resilience Infrastructure Project (CRIP) and inputs needed to advance with the CERC activation and related activities that are critical to shape the CERC’s and Project’s Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP). The CERC will allocate USD 20.5 million in response to the COVID-19 crisis. |
| C2 | Post-Disaster Public Financial Management review conducted. A detailed reform action plan has been developed for implementation under the CRF beginning FY21. | |
| Dominica | C1 | Provided technical advice to identify alternatives to LiDAR technology to map 25 percent of Dominica’s mountainous territory for better targeting response and recovery efforts. A technical and cost-benefit assessment of alternative technologies to develop the digital elevation models in mountainous areas was proposed to the Government and accepted. |
| C1 | Ongoing housing assessment to inform policymakers and overcome barriers that Dominica faces regarding the implementation of housing recovery projects. | |
| C2 | Post-Disaster Public Financial Management review conducted. A detailed reform action plan has been developed for implementation under the CRF beginning FY21. | |
| Grenada | C1 | In response to the government request, key support has been identified and four TOR are under review by the government. The expertise to be provided is on monitoring and evaluation, gender, structural engineering and one firm to provide capacity building on project management. Activities will start in FY21. |
| C1 | Technical and operational support provided to accelerate the implementation of the DVRP. Support includes, among others, guidance on procurement and on business continuity amid the COVID-19 response. | |
| C2 | Post-Disaster Public Financial Management review conducted. A detailed reform action plan has been developed for implementation under the CRF beginning FY21. | |
| Guyana | C1 | Technical support was provided to accelerate the implementation of the project which suffered delays due to the lack of local technical capacity related to the reconstructing and strengthening of the 4km stretch of the East Demerara Water Conservancy (EDWC) dam. |
| C2 | Post-Disaster Public Financial Management review conducted. A detailed reform action plan has been developed for implementation under the CRF beginning FY21. | |
| Jamaica | C1 | Hands-on support provided for the implementation of the Big Pond and Myton Gully Flood Mitigation Project. This is a project with complex technical design needing additional technical expertise not available in the island. |
| C2 | Post-Disaster Public Financial Management review conducted. A detailed reform action plan has been developed for implementation under the CRF beginning FY21. Technical assistance provided to develop and issue instructions to expedite financing for disaster relief and recovery activities. | |
| Saint Lucia | C1 | In response to the government request, six consultants have been identified to build capacity and provide expertise on procurement, project management, urban resilience and other topics. Various training activities will be organized on project management, monitoring and evaluation. Activities will start in FY21. |
| C1 | Technical support has been provided to address technical implementation bottlenecks of the Disaster Vulnerability Reduction Project (DVRP), particularly on coastal management and engineering. Support was also provided to the activation of a USD 5.5 million CERC in response to the COVID-19 crisis. | |
| C2 | Post-Disaster Public Financial Management review conducted. A detailed reform action plan has been developed for implementation under the CRF beginning FY21. | |
| C2 | Support to streamline disaster response budgeting protocols, and operationalize emergency procurement procedures, and develop gender-disaggregated data to inform gender policies. | |
| C2 | Provision of consultant services to help the Department of Finance (DOF) draft interim finance instructions to give guidance on how MDAs should execute emergency budget, procurement, accounting, reporting and audit processes in response to a disaster event (used for COVID-19). | |
| C2 | Provision of consultant’s services to design the TORs for the firm that will assist the Office of the Director of Audit to develop a comprehensive audit toolkit and planning manual for conducting rapid post-disaster in-year audits of the State’s accounts. This methodology can be used to quickly audit COVID-19 related expenses and activities. | |
| C2 | Provision of consultant services to help GOSL draft instructions on how to fast track procurement of food and other emergency supplies for COVID-19 and future disaster response operations. | |
| C2 | Provision of consultant services (just-in-time) to help the Ministry of Health to develop emergency budgets and action plans to fast track access to contingent financing for COVID-19. | |
| SVG | C1 | The CRF has provided technical guidance to the RDVRP project on coastal engineering and project management for the Government’s Project Implementation Unit. |
| C2 | Post-Disaster Public Financial Management review conducted. A detailed reform action plan has been developed for implementation under the CRF beginning FY21. | |
| Suriname | C1 | Strengthened Suriname’s procurement capacity to implement the Suriname Saramacca Canal Rehabilitation Project (SCRP). |
| C1 | Support provided to the government to prepare the CERC Operations Manual to be activated if the government decides to do so to respond to the COVID-19 crisis. The CERC will allocate USD 412,000 for the COVID-19 response. | |
| C2 | The review and design of the reform action plan will be deferred to next FY. |