Context :

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

PIRAC started the READY 360° program in January 2023 co-financed by the INTERREG Caribbean program. The READY 360° program aims to build global and greener resilience in Caribbean territories by strengthening disaster preparedness and response capacities at all levels: from the individual and family, to organizations 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) Improve information, awareness and preparedness of citizens to disasters and crises; (iv) Develop technical studies and research on disaster management with experts and academic actors.

Emergency professionals (disaster risk management and 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 program’s institutional partners are the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), and 8 Caribbean territories are involved in the program: Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent & the Grenadines. Other organizations involved in implementing the program at a technical level include the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC).

As part of this program, PIRAC carries out emergency preparedness actions, including the consolidation of the skills of the emergency team members of the Caribbean National Red Cross. The Red Cross Movement encourages the systematic integration of sustainability into the emergency response cycle and its members to reduce their own environmental impact. The FRC, along with several National Red Cross in the Caribbean zone, are signatories to the Charter of Humanitarian Organizations on Climate and the Environment, which commits them to minimizing environmental damage. It is by supporting National Red Cross in implementing their commitments, in particular through specialized training, that they will be able to implement a greener response. The FRC is therefore developing its range of training courses with a particular focus on the environment.

In order to develop self-directed learning, an e-learning module on warehouse management for emergency response has been created by the FRC and its partners, based on the existing logistics manual (https://pirac-log.expertiseinternationale.net/handbook), to which two new training modules dedicated to operational logistics, a protection, gender and inclusion module, and an epidemics module have been added.

It currently comprises :

– 7 modules on choosing storage space, managing inventory, sending and receiving items, tracking inventory, managing storage areas during epidemics, and protection, gender and inclusion

– A toolbox containing the logistics manual, inventory management tools, checklist recommendations and links to the IFRC emergency products catalog and the Sphere manual

– A knowledge validation quiz

The e-learning is available to all, including Caribbean National Red Cross teams as well as those of FRC partners, on the IFRC learning platform: https://ifrc.csod.com/ui/lms-learning-details/app/course/2f50c733- dd57-4240-8c53-5122ea4691f9?isCompletionRedirect=true

General objective :

As part of the READY 360° program, the FRC and its partners are continuing to enhance this e-learning, with a particular focus on green logistics. A specific training module will be created on solutions to limit the environmental impact of logistics activities linked to the management of emergency response warehouses. It will contribute to improving the knowledge of Caribbean Red Cross emergency team members in this field, and to the adoption of new, more environmentally-friendly warehouse management practices.

Specific objectives :

• Design the green logistics training module
• Design a checklist of recommendations on green logistics
• Design questions on green logistics for the knowledge validation quiz