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: the coping strategies of the affected needed to implement its Recovery and a corporate effort States. Development Plan. Hurricanes Irma and Maria became a The impacts of these disasters in the UNDP responded immediately to a call corporate priority for UNDP even before Small Island Developing Countries from the Caribbean Community Secre- their landfall. Preparedness plans were (SIDS) context had a multiplier effect. tariat (CARICOM) to provide policy and activated and senior leadership of all The geographic size, small popula- technical support to organize a different parts of the organization worked tions, dependent economies and frag- CARICOM-UN High-Level Pledging together to identify needs rapidly and ile and intricate connections between Conference with the purpose of mobi- define the appropriate course of action. ecosystems and livelihoods, had lizing financial and technical support The Crisis Response Unit (CRU) immedi- immense implications for the sustain- for the affected countries and territo- ately activated its response mechanisms, ability of these nations. ries. The support UNDP provided to assisting with the deployment of first When a catastrophic disaster strikes this largely non-official development responders and SURGE experts together in a SIDS – unlike other developing assistance (ODA)-eligible region re- with catalytic funding that enabled UNDP country contexts – the entire popula- sulted in $1.6 billion in grant pledges to establish solid teams in multiple islands tion and economy is usually affected. being made at the November 2018 simultaneously. Additionally, the Bureau This was the experience of Dominica, conference. for Programme and Policy Support (BPPS) BVI and Barbuda. The costs of these In response to requests from affect- made available sectoral experts in dif- disasters are estimated to have ex- ed States, UNDP provided timely and ferent fields and financial resources for ceeded the national gross domestic effective recovery support. UNDP has programmatic interventions on recovery, product (GDP) for Dominica and BVI. mobilized over $25 million to contrib- resilience and climate change adaptation Based on the Post-Disaster Needs ute to national recovery interventions that are facilitating the transition from Assessment (PDNA) for Dominica, the in affected States. This report high- early recovery to long term resilience. The identified recovery needs for recon- lights the work that the UNDP Sub- Bureau for External Relations and Ad- struction and resilience interventions – regional Office for Barbados and the vocacy (BERA) and the Bureau for Man- incorporating the principle of ‘building OECS has done in Antigua and agement Support (BMS) also played an back better’ (BBB) where possible – Barbuda, Dominica and BVI and the important role throughout the process, in amount to $1.37 billion. In Antigua and work the Multi-Country Office for collaboration with the Regional Bureau for Barbuda, recovery needs amount to Trinidad and Tobago, Surinam, Aruba, Latin America and the Caribbean and its $222 million, primarily for Barbuda. Curacao and Sint Maarten has deliv- regional hub. BVI estimates that $721 million is ered in the latter island. 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