Whether in schools, with the general public, or with actors involved in disaster preparedness, PIRAC carried out various activities in 2023 alongside its financial and operational partners.
In 2024, PIRAC will be stepping up its activities at various levels in the Caribbean and on the Guyana Plateau in order to strengthen its actions in risk prevention, preparedness and response to disasters and health crises.
PIRAC’S KEY MOMENTS IN 2023
January 24th: Climate Fresk workshop with PIRAC’s Paré pa Paré project team | Guadeloupe
PIRAC’s Paré pa Paré project team led a Climate Fresk workshop with French Red Cross volunteers in Guadeloupe to raise awareness on the causes and consequences of climate change.
March 6th: Visit of the French Red Cross President | Guadeloupe
PIRAC was delighted to welcome the President of the French Red Cross, Philippe DA COSTA, on a visit to the French West Indies. It was an opportunity to reaffirm the French Red Cross’ commitment to disaster prevention, preparedness and response in the Caribbean.
March 28th and 31st: Webinars on the fight against epidemics | online
PIRAC organized 2 webinars as part of the REMPART Epidemic project and the “Gathering of the Expert Network” event, with the first webinar focusing on responses to infectious risks in recent years in the America-Caribbean region. The second presented inspiring advances in the fight against epidemics. These two webinars follow on from a first expert webinar on the theme: “Climate change and epidemic risks on the Guyana Plateau, what impacts and courses of action mobilizing populations?” which took place in April 2022.
June 29th and 30th: emergency preparedness in the Caribbean workshop | Guadeloupe
The Territorial Delegations and Head Offices of the French Red Cross in Guadeloupe, Martinique, St Barthelemy and St Martin met for a workshop on emergency preparedness in the Caribbean. The aim of this meeting was to strengthen coordination between the teams mobilized in these territories, to improve prevention and preparedness for natural disasters.
All year long: seismic risk awareness in schools | Guadeloupe
More than 1,700 students from 9 secondary schools were made aware of the seismic risk in Guadeloupe thanks to the deployment of the DEAL earthquake simulator. These events help to raise awareness on the seismic risk, and on the measures to adopt and protect against it, both individually and collectively.
September 9th : Launch of the First Aid application by the Global First Aid Reference Center | online
To mark World First Aid Day, the GFARC has launched a new, free, multilingual Universal First Aid Application, available on smartphones and tablets. It aims to promote and nurture first aid skills, and boost users’ confidence and willingness to take the action of first aid.
November 13th to 16th: emergency seawater desalination unit deployment protocol in Saint Vincent & the Grenadines
From November 13rd to 16th, 2023, PIRAC organized in Saint Vincent & the Grenadines a 4-day field simulation of the emergency seawater desalination unit deployment protocol. Several national emergency actors took part.
From November 28th to 30th: Disaster risk reduction regional Awareness campaign workshop | Saint-Martin
As part of the READY 360° project, 6 Caribbean National Red Cross gathered with the PIRAC & IFRC in Saint-Martin to initiate a collective framework for building a new public awareness campaign on disaster risks and the effects of climate change that will be rolled out from 2024.
The construction of a new regional humanitarian warehouse in Guadeloupe is starting
As part of the READY Together/3 Oceans program, PIRAC has undertaken to build and equip a regional humanitarian warehouse in Guadeloupe. This will enable the pre-positioning of a stock of essential goods and humanitarian equipment which, when integrated into a network of emergency actors, will strengthen disaster preparedness and response capacities in the Caribbean region. Construction started in December 2023 and will continue throughout 2024.
January 27th: Veolia Foundation’s humanitarian WASH workshop | Lyon
PIRAC took part in the Veolia Foundation’s humanitarian WASH workshops. On the program: discussions on access to drinking water and sanitation, technical solutions and presentation of the emergency operation following storm Fiona in Guadeloupe in 2022.
March-April: “Experts’ Network Gathering” virtual event | America-Caribbean Zone
As part of the REMPART Epidemic project, PIRAC, the Suriname Red Cross and the Guyana Red Cross organized the virtual this event, which brought together the several epidemic control experts in the region, included the organization of 2 webinars, 1 virtual exhibition and the production of a journal. Between its launch on 03/09/23 and 04/27/23, the event platform welcomed 96 visitors and recorded 756 visits to all pages.
May 9th to 25th: “The climate is changing, and you?” awareness action | Caribbean zone
As part of the Ready Together/3 Oceans program, PIRAC & its partners broadcasted the multimedia action”The climate is changing, and you?” on social media, TV and radio, highlighting 10 climate change adaptation initiatives in the Caribbean region. This campaign was broadcast on 12 radio channels with over 920,000 covers per day, on 8 TV channels with 765,000 covers per day, and attracted over 2 million impressions on social networks and 100,000 Facebook accounts in the broadcast territories. It marks the final action in the regional awareness campaign.
June 6th to 8th: IFRC Inter-american Conference | Bahamas
Through PIRAC and the Global First Aid Centre, the French Red Cross took part in the 22nd Inter-American Conference in the Bahamas. With our partner CDEMA, PIRAC presented its disaster preparedness actions in the Caribbean, as well as the READY Together / 3 Oceans and READY 360 regional programs.
July 31st to August 4th: Sharing experiences on awareness-raising in school | Dominican Republic
From July 31 to August 4, PIRAC was welcomed in Santo Domingo by the Dominican Republic Red Cross (CRRD) to meet its members and technical partners. The mission was part of the Let’s Be Prepared program, which aims to create regional synergies in risk prevention by sharing experiences in the Caribbean basin.
October 13th: International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction | Guadeloupe & Martinique
Through various activities, the Paré pa Paré and Fok Nou Paré teams were actively involved in natural hazard awareness activities in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, to mark International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, as well as in Martinique at La Galleria shopping center.
November 22nd and 23rd: Regional Meeting on Disaster Risk Reduction in the School Environment
As part of the Let’s Be Prepared program, PIRAC organized a Regional Meeting on Disaster Risk Reduction in schools in Guadeloupe, in partnership with the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA). This workshop brought together a number of technical representatives from the education and risk prevention sectors, with the aim of reinforcing the sharing of experience and working towards a Caribbean dynamic on these themes.
November 27th to 29th : civil military cooperation workshop | Caribbean zone
In the framework of the READY 360° program, The 2nd edition of the civil military cooperation workshop for the Caribbean co-organized by CDEMA, PIRAC & IFRC gathered 120 civil and military actors from november 27 to 29 to exchange on approaches in the Caribbean & Americas to strengthen civil-military relations.
December 20th : The Disaster Law Virtual Exhibition | Online
Through a series of videos & interviews, this exhibition created by IFRC in the framework of the READY 360° programme aims at highlighting the recent experiences of disaster preparedness & response in the Caribbean, with national Red Cross volunteers explaining the concrete challenges on the field in terms of legislation during a crisis s, the role and impact of disaster law to bring humanitarian aid to disaster-affected communities and to build the resilience of the most vulnerable.
January – February: Raising awareness on vector-borne diseases | French Guiana
From January to February, 348 schoolchildren in Cayenne, Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, Kourou and Sinnamary were made aware of vector-borne diseases. These preventive actions in schools were carried out as part of the Rempart Épidémique project, and aim to get children involved in prevention by identifying and destroying breeding grounds in their environment.
March 22nd: Sharing experience workshop: health promotion in schools | French Guiana
Carried out as part of the REMPART Epidemic project, the sharing expérience workshop in Cayennes provided an opportunity to present several pedagogical tools developed by the Rempart Epidemic project teams in Guyana and French Guiana, which can be used to facilitate awareness-raising sessions. The workshop was attended by 19 people in face-to-face sessions and 2 in remote sessions.
June 1st: READY 360° kick-off workshop | Guadeloupe
Several disaster risk management stakeholders were gathered in Guadeloupe for the launch workshop of the READY 360° regional program, co-funded by INTERREG Caribbean and implemented in 8 Caribbean territories, in partnership with OECS and CDEMA. Many national Red Cross from the Caribbean were present, as well as the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
June 9th : hurricane season opening | Guadeloupe
PIRAC took part in the official opening of the 2023 cyclone season in Guadeloupe, organized by the Guadeloupe prefecture, in the presence of Météo France, various local authorities, government departments and operators. PIRAC presented its response to tropical storm FIONA, its operational capabilities and its emergency response system.
August – October: emergency response mission | Haiti
Patrice Lefaucheur, a volunteer of the French Red Cross in Martinique, went on an IFRC-mandated mission to Haiti to coordinate with the Red Cross Movement and the Haitian Red Cross, a response operation to the various disasters that have hit the country last year.
November 7th to 8th : 2nd Caribbean Workshop on International Disaster Response Law | Caribbean zone
This regional workshop was jointly facilitated by Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), IFRC and PIRAC as part of the READY 360 program. It gathered more than 200 regional actors with the aim to improve the legal and policy framework for international disaster response.
November 23rd: Webinar on the International First Aid Certificate | Online
The International First Aid Certificate (IFA) Webinar took place on November 23. The aim was to inform participants from National Societies in the Caribbean, South and Central America about the process of obtaining this certification, which is crucial for delivering first aid training in line with international standards and guidelines.
November / december 2023 :assessment of pre-positioned emergency stocks in the Caribbean
PIRAC has carried out assessments of multiple emergency stocks pre-positioned within the Red Cross Societies of Dominica, Saint Lucia, St Vincent & the Grenadines and Antigua & Barbuda. This diagnostic phase is part of the READY360° program, and will enable to respond to logistical needs in terms of facilities and equipment, prioritizing solutions with less environmental impact.
