CDB to fund programme to increase social resilience to natural disasters
Despite the high vulnerability of the Caribbean Region to natural disasters and the effect they can have on mental health and psychosocial well-being, social resilience is often overlooked in mitigation and rebuilding efforts. In direct response to this issue, the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has announced that it will fund a programme to enhance capacity for mental health and psychosocial support in disaster management in the Caribbean.
“It is critical that a country’s response to any disaster includes a targeted psychosocial support and mental health component to rebuild individual and social resilience,” said Daniel Best, Director of Projects, CDB.
“We have witnessed first-hand how feelings of anxiety and distress can result from the inability to tolerate and withstand environmental and social threats, and lead to behaviours, including substance abuse, child and spousal abuse and gender-based violence. This can potentially have a long term debilitating impact on victims, and by extension, the development of Small Island Developing States,” he added.
Addressing mental health and psychosocial support has become increasingly relevant for governments and humanitarian actors. The grant from CDB will assist the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) with enhancing regional capacity to provide this kind of support in disaster management, and achieve three primary objectives:
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