The exercise was a crucial component of the Resilience Building and Disaster Response Management Programme(RDRM-IO), funded by the European Union and implemented by the Indian Ocean Commission (COI), the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), and the French Red Cross in the Indian Ocean (PIROI). The first exercise under this programme was held in Mauritius last month.

On the first day, participants attended presentations and preparations led by the Malagasy Bureau National pour la Gestion des Risques et Catastrophes (BNGRC), where they learned about the exercise methodology and prepared for their roles. The full-scale exercise began on September 19, with Mr. Moustache and Mr. Payet joining teams from the United Nations University (UNU), UNDRR, CIMA Research Foundation, and colleagues from Comoros and Mauritius to observe the exercise and learn best practices.

The third day of the exercise focused on debriefing and recommendations from the multiple agencies involved, with 250 participants taking part in both the tabletop and skill drills. Mr. Payet observed the tabletop exercise at a large centre in Tamatave while Mr. Moustache was in the field, overseeing activities such as evacuation and food distribution. For the first time, a helicopter and an amphibious vehicle capable of transporting provisions on land and water were used in such exercise.

“This exercise has been an invaluable opportunity for our officers to witness a large-scale operation involving extensive coordination among numerous agencies in a densely populated country. Their insights and recommendations will be instrumental in refining our local processes,” said Director General of DRMD, Mr. Robert Ernesta. “We extend our deepest gratitude to BNGRC, the European Union, and the Indian Ocean Commission for making this possible.”

Mr. Moustache and Mr. Payet are currently in their final week of a one-month internship in Madagascar under the RDRM-IO programme. Through visits, observations, and exchanges, they gain the skills to develop and update contingency plans for various natural hazards. Following this internship, Mr. Moustache and Mr. Payet will share their internship experience and skills learned to other officers, promoting collaboration and continuous improvement within the team. This aligns with the division’s vision of becoming a center of excellence among small island developing states in disaster management.

As members of the Small Island Developing States (SIDS), the Indian Ocean islands and Caribbean islands are vulnerable to disasters due to their size, geographic remoteness, limited resources and dependency on importation of resources. Therefore, SIDS face various natural and human induced hazard and disasters like Hurricanes, Cyclones, Earthquakes and Tsunamis which are often amplified by climate change and anthropogenic activities.

The objective of this technical visit was to enhance the cooperation between the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean region, and for the national NDMAs of the Indian Ocean Islands to share their work in Disaster Risk Reduction. The participants visited key institution for Disaster Risk Reduction at a regional, national and community levels. The technical visit included various activities such as the Barbados situation room visits, panel discussions, expert briefings and workshops to identify and exchange the best practices in prevention and mitigation, Preparedness, Response and Recovery efforts.

During the study tour, emphasis was made to enhance and strengthen the current Early Warning System within the CDEMA and IOC countries by integrating a multi-hazard Early Warning System that will provide timely and accurate information to communities at risk. The Multi-hazard Early warning system will permit NDMAs and first responders to act in a timely manner to reduce the effects of the hazards.

Through the RDRM-IO program, the NDMAs of Seychelles, Mauritius, Comoros and Madagascar in support of IOC, aims to establish a Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Indian Ocean. This is to improve the coordination of national initiatives between the Indian Ocean islands to facilitate knowledge exchanges of the best practices, lessons learned and innovative approaches for strengthening Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) between the Caribbean region and the Indian Ocean.