From early recovery to long-term resilience in the Caribbean Hurricanes Irma and Maria: One year on UNDP Summary Report Index · 3 INDEX Context 04 Overview of key UNDP contributions to national efforts 08 UNDP Strategy 12 A joint effort of recovery partners 18 An Overview of the Results 22 Results by Country 30 Way forward 54 CONTEXT 1 Context · 5 The 2017 Atlantic hurricane season will forever be remembered by the Small Island Hurricane Irma, the ninth named and 125 people were injured in the Developing States (SIDS) of the hurricane of the 2017 Atlantic hurri- devastation. Subsequently, on 18 northern and eastern Caribbean. cane season and the most powerful September, Hurricane Maria made on record, with maximum winds of landfall on Dominica and affected approximately 185 miles per hour BVI the following day. The entire During that season, of the 13 named (mph), made a direct hit on the population of Dominica – approxi- tropical storms, two catastrophic island of Barbuda on 6 September. mately 73,000 people – was directly Category 5 hurricanes – Irma and In its aftermath, 95 percent of the affected by Hurricane Maria. More houses in Barbuda were damaged than 90 percent of all roofs were Maria – made landfall, and caused or destroyed. Barbuda was deemed damaged or destroyed. Critical pow- havoc and devastation in Antigua uninhabitable, and the entire popula- er and water supplies were disrupt- and Barbuda, Dominica, Anguilla, tion of 1,600 persons was evacuated ed, and entire crops destroyed. the British Virgin Islands (BVI), to the main island of Antigua. Sint Maarten, the Bahamas, Saint Hurricanes Irma and Maria resulted Barthelemy, and the Turks and In BVI, where recovery from the in the deaths of at least 37 people. Caicos Islands from September extreme floods of 7 August 2017 Thousands were made homeless, 6-19. They also impacted the south- was still under way, Irma caused and key infrastructure for transporta- eastern islands of the Bahamas, St. widespread damage to the hous- tion, water, health, tourism, and ed- ing stock, road infrastructure, ports, ucation were devastated. Between Kitts and Nevis, and the northern telecommunications, electrical 70 and 95 percent of houses were border of Haiti. infrastructure and critical facilities. damaged in Anguilla, the Bahamas, Key sector infrastructure and assets, the Turks and Caicos Islands, BVI, such as for tourism – the driver of Barbuda and Dominica. The anom- the BVI economy – were significant- aly of two catastrophic hurricanes ly impacted. Every resident of BVI in close succession, combined with was affected, four lives were lost, successive storm events, surpassed 6 · Context UNDP response in the Caribbean: a corporate effort Hurricanes Irma and Maria became a the coping strategies of the affected $222 million, primarily for Barbuda. corporate priority for UNDP even before States. BVI estimates that $721 million is their landfall. Preparedness plans were The impacts of these disasters in the needed to implement its Recovery and activated and senior leadership of all Small Island Developing Countries Development Plan. different parts of the organization worked (SIDS) context had a multiplier effect. UNDP responded immediately to a call together to identify needs rapidly and The geographic size, small popula- from the Caribbean Community Secre- define the appropriate course of action. tions, dependent economies and frag- tariat (CARICOM) to provide policy and The Crisis Response Unit (CRU) immedi- ile and intricate connections between technical support to organize a ately activated its response mechanisms, ecosystems and livelihoods, had CARICOM-UN High-Level Pledging assisting with the deployment of first immense implications for the sustain- Conference with the purpose of mobi- responders and SURGE experts together ability of these nations. lizing financial and technical support with catalytic funding that enabled UNDP When a catastrophic disaster strikes for the affected countries and territo- to establish solid teams in multiple islands in a SIDS – unlike other developing ries. The support UNDP provided to simultaneously. Additionally, the Bureau country contexts – the entire popula- this largely non-official development for Programme and Policy Support (BPPS) tion and economy is usually affected. assistance (ODA)-eligible region re- made available sectoral experts in dif- This was the experience of Dominica, sulted in $1.6 billion in grant pledges ferent fields and financial resources for BVI and Barbuda. The costs of these being made at the November 2018 programmatic interventions on recovery, disasters are estimated to have ex- conference. resilience and climate change adaptation ceeded the national gross domestic In response to requests from affect- that are facilitating the transition from product (GDP) for Dominica and BVI. ed States, UNDP provided timely and early recovery to long term resilience. The Based on the Post-Disaster Needs effective recovery support. UNDP has Bureau for External Relations and Ad- Assessment (PDNA) for Dominica, the mobilized over $25 million to contrib- vocacy (BERA) and the Bureau for Man- identified recovery needs for recon- ute to national recovery interventions agement Support (BMS) also played an struction and resilience interventions – in affected States. This report high- important role throughout the process, in incorporating the principle of ‘building lights the work that the UNDP Sub- collaboration with the Regional Bureau for back better’ (BBB) where possible – regional Office for Barbados and the Latin America and the Caribbean and its amount to $1.37 billion. In Antigua and OECS has done in Antigua and regional hub. Barbuda, recovery needs amount to Barbuda, Dominica and BVI. Context · 7 United Nations: working together on recovery In order to promote the exponential impact of recovery interventions across sectors, UNDP has been partnering with multiple stockholders present in the Ca- ribbean, placing particular relevance on collaborations with other United Nations Consistent with the emphasis of its new Strategic Plan, UNDP served agencies, funds and programmes. The as a connector and convenor, helping to catalyse and mobilize finan- long-term UNDP presence in Dominica cial resources and top notch expertise from around the world. In this has served to strengthen partnerships regard, UNDP supported the High-Level Pledging Conference, to fol- with organizations such as OCHA, with low up on behalf of the region with donors, and developed a regional the establishment of the Crisis Manage- approach to resilience. This new approach is an effort to support the ment Unit immediately after the disaster; region in its vision of addressing underlying vulnerabilities and transi- with WFP, to address logistical challeng- tioning to become the world’s first climate-resilient region. es; with IOM, on roofing repairs; and with UNICEF, for the retrofitting of two educa- tional buildings in Dominica. In Antigua and Barbuda, technical assistance from PAHO experts is central to ensuring ade- In Dominica damages, i.e. destroyed physical assets, totalled quate rehabilitation of the Hanna Thomas $930.9 million, while losses amounted to approximately $380.2 Hospital. UNDP partnerships with relevant million – the equivalent of 226 percent of the 2016 GDP. In the case organizations have been critical to the of Antigua and Barbuda and BVI, damages and losses amount to success of the interventions, and further $155 million and $2.6 billion respectively. The tourism, agriculture collaboration is being explored in the con- and the housing sectors were significantly affected in all countries. text of the UNDP resilience programme in In the BVI, damages and losses in the tourism sector alone are esti- the region. mated to be $1.2 billion. OVERVIEW OF KEY UNDP CONTRIBUTIONS TO NATIONAL EFFORTS 2 Overview of key UNDP contributions to national efforts · 9 Dominica Guidelines to the Housing Standards main tertiary education institution- developed, disseminated and imple- Dominica State College. mented for long-term resilience building. Effective parnerships established and Recovery strategies and partnerships managed with 9 organizations for roof strengthened for long term engagement installation: Engineers Without Borders; for risk informed development: Ministry of Health Project Management • Crisis Management Unit (CMU) and Unit (PMH), Americares, IOM, IFRC, Is- UNDP Dominica Project Office set raAid, Caritas, Emergency Architects, All up. Hands and Hearts. • Post Disaster Needs Assessment Capacity built in ‘Building Back Better’; (PDNA) completed. (BBB)- 350 contractors trained in BBB techniques. • Physical Planning Division supported in the review of approval processes. Debris sorted and essential roads, schools and tourism sites cleared in • Development of the recovery agen- cooperation with key partners (National cy- CREAD supported. Employment Programme and Dominica A comprehensive Building Damage Solid Waste Management Corporation); Assessment (BDA) of 29,431 structures healthy and safe living conditions in tar- completed by Ministry of Housing for getted areas for more than 5000 benefi- recovery planning purposes; webmap of ciaries. BDA and reroofed buildings developed. Gender balanced emergency employ- 488 buildings restored for the most ment provided for over 400 persons vulnerable (over 350,000 sq ft): 472 (42% women) in 18 communities from homes; 3 schools, 5 health care centres; 150 households. Personal Protective and government buildings-