PHILIPSBURG:--- As a part of the EU-funded project "Technical Assistance for Disaster Response and Preparedness," representatives from eight Sint Maarten communities began a Risk Mapping Training.
This project began in June 2022, and its overarching goal is to assist the government of Sint Maarten in achieving its aim of strengthening its institutional capacity to plan, monitor, and coordinate post-disaster response and rehabilitation.
Since the project's inception, more than 30 participants have been trained and have mapped St. Peters and Middle Region.
Risk Map Training seeks to prepare community leaders, community-minded individuals, and other important stakeholders with the knowledge and skills necessary to enable Community Risk Mapping (CRM) in their respective areas.
Ignacio Cristóbal, an expert in community preparedness and facilitator of this course, stated, "The purpose of this training is to organize communities so they may be ready, well-prepared, and self-managed in emergency or disaster situations. Thus, they will be able to respond much more effectively, saving lives and protecting livelihoods."
As part of the training, communication sessions were facilitated in various neighborhoods in order to gain an understanding of the community's perspective on previous and current communication campaigns, messages about preparedness, emergency response, and disaster risk reduction, as well as any other pertinent communications-related issues.
The upcoming communication session will take place on Wednesday, December 7 in South Reward. The location will be announced at a later date.
Ms. Chantale George - Groeneveldt, department head of Community Development, Family & Humanitarian Affairs, encourages residents of South Reward, Weymouth Hill, Ebenezer, and other nearby districts to attend the upcoming CRM information session. As much as we are in the Christmas spirit and as grateful as we are that hurricane season is over, we must be ready to act, ready to mitigate, and ready to be the first responders to any scenario that may arise in our communities.
Persons can confirm their attendance by sending an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by sending a WhattsApp message to 5590819.
