Context :

Created in 2005, the Regional Intervention Platform for the Americas and the Caribbean (PIRAC) is the representative delegation of the French Red Cross (FRC) for the Caribbean region, based in Guadeloupe, as well as its operational mechanism for humanitarian action and regional cooperation. PIRAC comes to the aid of the people of the Caribbean in the event of major disasters and works to develop actions to strengthen the resilience of populations in French territories as well as in the countries of the Caribbean Arc and the Guyana Plateau.

PIRAC launched the READY 360° programme in January 2023, co-funded by the INTERREG Caribbean programme. The READY 360° programme aims to build global and greener resilience in Caribbean territories by strengthening disaster preparedness and response capacities at all levels: from individuals and families to organisations and businesses, right up to the level of regional institutional coordination of risk management. It is divided into two phases: phase 1 to be implemented in 2023 and phase 2 from 2024.

It aims to achieve 4 main objectives: (i) Strengthen regional coordination and legislative frameworks for disaster management; (ii) Prepare for, anticipate, and respond to disasters and crises with greener preparedness measures. (iii) Improving public information, awareness, and preparedness for disasters and crises; (iv) Developing technical studies and research on disaster management with experts and academics.

Emergency professionals (those involved in disaster risk management and the national Red Cross), entrepreneurs, the general public, and young people are the main targets of the project, through actions to structure regional technical cooperation, emergency pre-positioning, training, and the development of innovative educational tools. The fundamental principle of this new approach is to reduce the environmental impact of risk management practices.

The programme’s institutional partners are the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA). 8 Caribbean territories are involved in the programme: Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent & the Grenadines.

One of the main outcomes of the READY 360° programme is to raise public awareness of the effects of climate change and the risks of disasters through a regional awareness-raising campaign designed to increase the long-term resilience of individuals and communities by promoting protective measures and solutions for adapting to climate change. The awareness-raising messages and their dissemination methods will be adapted for people with disabilities.

Objectives

General objective:

The general aim of the service will be to carry out an analysis of local perceptions, attitudes and practices towards people with disabilities in Caribbean culture, with a view to developing an awareness-raising campaign.

Specific objectives :

• Define the public with disability that can be included as a target audience for the campaign and its characteristics as well as the individual protection measures adapted to the socio-cultural context according to the type of hazard it may adopt;
• To analyse the place of people with disabilities within the family unit in Caribbean culture and the profile of carers, as well as the protective measures that carers can put in place to prepare and prevent people with disabilities living under the same roof from becoming disabled;
• Identify the sources of and barriers to access to information for people with disabilities, in order to propose the types of media for messages and methods of disseminating awareness-raising information that will enable people with disabilities and their carers to be reached.