CCRIF SPC Internship Report 2015-2018
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
CCRIF Regional Internship Programme 2015-2018 Revised February 2019 CCRIF Regional Internship Programme Produced by: CCRIF SPC 198 North Church Street 2nd Floor Sagicor House P.O. Box 1087 Grand Cayman, KY1 – 1102 Cayman Islands February 2019 Table of Contents Introduction 1 Introduction to the CCRIF Regional Internship Programme 2 Placement of Interns 2015 - 2018 3 Key Achievements/Successes of the Internship Programme 2015 - 2018 5 Reporting and Assessment 2015 - 2018 7 Lessons Learned and Recommendations 9 Annex 1: List of CCRIF Internship Placements 2015 - 2018 10 Applications are accepted during March – May/June each year For details, see www.ccrif.org/content/regional-internship-programme Or contact [email protected] Introduction In 2010, CCRIF launched its Technical Assistance (TA) Programme to provide an ongoing mechanism for grant support within the Caribbean region for capacity building initiatives and the development and implementation of projects that have a strong potential for improving the effectiveness of risk management. The main aim of the TA Programme is to assist Caribbean countries deepen their understanding of natural hazards and catastrophe risk, and the potential impacts of climate change on the region. The Programme has three components as follows: Component 1 focuses primarily on support for tertiary level scholarships as well as support for professional development programmes Component 2 focuses on regional knowledge building and involves the development and implementation of strategic regional projects in support of disaster risk management (DRM) and other areas of direct and indirect interest to CCRIF Component 3 is centered on support for local disaster risk management projects and programmes In 2015, CCRIF launched the Regional Internship Programme under Component 1 as its flagship professional development programme. This report describes the Regional Internship Programme, now in its fourth year. It presents basic information on the programme to date and highlights the implementation and achievements of the programme in its first four years, 2015 – 2018. 1 | P a g e Introduction to the CCRIF Regional Internship Programme The Regional Internship Programme is designed to provide opportunities for students who have specialized in the areas of disaster risk management, environmental management, During 2015-2018, 85 interns from 9 countries were placed actuarial science, geography, climate studies and other at 27 national and regional similar areas to be assigned to national and regional organizations with a total organizations where their educational experience can be investment of almost enhanced through practical work assignments. US$260,000 The Regional Internship Programme has been designed to: Promote academic, career and/or personal development for the interns Provide interns with the opportunity to integrate their academic knowledge with practical application and skill development in the workplace Provide university graduates with an opportunity to gain experience in the work of national and regional organizations involved in disaster risk management/climate change adaptation and studies, risk transfer and risk management, with the objective of deepening their knowledge and understanding of these core areas Offer interns challenging assignments that benefit the host organization while providing tangible work experience for the intern Enable interns to sample potential specialties and explore the workplace culture of the regional organization Include an intentional “learning plan” for the intern that is structured into the work experience and includes learning objectives, observation, reflection, evaluation and assessment of interns Balance the intern’s own learning goals with the specific work the organization needs completed Ensure that interns are provided with an opportunity to network with key professionals and stakeholders working in the various areas of disaster risk management The programme is open to citizens of CARICOM and/or CCRIF member countries who are graduates of a recognized university. The interns should have completed a course of study in any one of the following key areas: disaster risk management, environmental management, meteorology, climate studies, civil engineering, management studies with a focus on risk management, environmental economics, geography, geology, civil engineering, risk management and actuarial science. CCRIF provides a monthly stipend to each intern to cover living expenses and an accommodation allowance to those who are placed outside their home country. Internships are for two months but in some cases, host organizations have extended the 2 | P a g e internship period – under separate agreements between the organization and the intern (at no additional cost to CCRIF). The following illustrates the benefits for both interns and host organizations from participation in the programme. Benefits for Interns: Young Benefits for National and Regional Caribbean Professionals and Organizations Students •Promote academic, career and/or personal •Provide temporary employees with special development and new/cutting-edge skills and knowledge •Provide experiential learning thereby ensuring •Assist with the organizations’ work towards that interns gain vital skills and experience achieving their targets that they will be able to use throughout their professional career •Expose interns to the work being undertaken in the region in the areas of disaster risk management, climate change and risk transfer Placement of Interns 2015 - 2018 To date, CCRIF has placed 85 interns at 27 Summary of Intern Placements 2015-2018 national and regional organizations as shown # of # of Host Expenditures in the table at right. This includes 18 regional Interns Organizations (US$) organizations and 9 national disaster or 2015 18 10 73,962 meteorology agencies. Each year, additional 2016 25 16 73,795 organizations have indicated their interest in 2017 23 15 63,043 participating in the programme. 2018 19 16 56,287 Total 85 27 267,087 The table below lists the distribution of intern placements by host organization. It shows that the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) has had the most interns with 12 over the four years of the programme. Often, organizations request more interns than can be accommodated in any year. CCRIF makes every effort to assign at least one intern to a host organization if possible. However, the most important placement criterion is that the intern have the requisite skills and/or experience to meet the needs of the host organization for the specific project or tasks identified by the organization. 3 | P a g e Placement of Interns at Host Organizations 2015-2018 Number of Interns Organization 2018 2017 2016 2015 Total Anguilla Department of Disaster Management 1 1 Association of Caribbean States (ACS) Secretariat 1 1 Barbados Department of Emergency Management 1 1 1 3 Caribbean Centre for Development Administration 1 1 (CARICAD) Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) 1 1 2 Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) 1 2 3 Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency 2 4 4 2 12 (CDEMA) Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH) 1 1 2 2 6 Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) 1 1 CARICOM Secretariat 1 1 2 Hazard Management Cayman Islands 1 1 2 Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency 2 Management - Jamaica 2 Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) 2 3 Commission 1 National Emergency Management Agency – The Bahamas 1 1 National Emergency Management Organisation - Saint Lucia 1 1 National Emergency Management Organisation – St. Vincent and the Grenadines 1 Tobago Emergency Management Agency 1 2 2 Trinidad and Tobago Meteorology Service 2 2 1 3 UWI Centre for Resource Management and Environmental 1 1 1 2 Studies (CERMES), Cave Hill UWI Centre for Marine Sciences, Mona 1 1 1 2 UWI Climate Studies Group Mona 2 2 2 1 5 UWI Department of Civil Engineering, St. Augustine 2 2 UWI Department of Geography and Geology, Mona 2 2 2 6 UWI Department of Geography, St. Augustine 1 2 2 5 UWI Disaster Risk Reduction Centre (DRRC), Mona 2 1 2 5 UWI Institute for Sustainable Development (ISD), Mona 1 1 UWI Seismic Research Centre (SRC), St. Augustine 3 3 There are four organizations as listed below that have offered to participate in the programme but have not received an intern. CCRIF will attempt to place interns with these organizations in future years if requested. Turks and Caicos Islands Department of Disaster and Emergency Management 4 | P a g e UWI Department of Physics, Mona Antigua & Barbuda National Office of Disaster Services Saint Lucia Meteorological Services To date, interns from nine countries have been placed in internships, with the most (30 – over ⅓ of the total) coming from Trinidad and Tobago – as shown in the graph below. Number of Interns Placed by Home Country 2015-2018 Key Achievements/Successes of the Internship Programme 2015 - 2018 Host organizations uniformly indicated that the programme has greatly benefited their organizations, often surpassing their original expectations. Similarly, interns stressed that the experience was invaluable. Some highlights of the first four years of the programme are presented below. Annex 1 provides the list of interns and the projects they implemented during their internships over the period 2015 - 2018. Mahendra Sawyack and CCCCC personnel prepared a readiness proposal for the Government of Guyana to access the Green Climate Fund (GCF),