IOC/UNESCO, as part of its Tsunami Programme is currently implementing major initiatives aimed at reducing the vulnerability of its Member States in the Caribbean and adjacent regions to tsunamis and other coastal hazards. The UNESCO/IOC/CTIC DIPECHO project: ”Strengthening Capacities of Early Warning and Response for Tsunami and Other Coastal Hazards in the Caribbean” focuses on supporting the CARIBE EWS, coordinated by ICG/CARIBE, to develop accurate products towards the reduction of the tsunami vulnerability and the advance of the global tsunami preparedness. More specifically, this project will cover the developments of: • Community level Tsunami Inundation maps at pilot sites and the relevant signage • Community level Tsunami Evacuation maps at pilot sites and the relevant signage • Public Awareness and Education in the project community • Updated national level Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and community level Emergency Operating Procedures (EOPs) The development of easy-to-understand (i) tsunami inundation and (ii) evacuation maps is essential to ensure that communities in tsunami-prone areas are properly prepared, being a critical component of an affective end-to-end early warning system. These maps will contribute to improved awareness of tsunami hazards, to develop evacuation plans and to foster the adoption of mitigation measures. Stakeholder participation, including national and international disaster organizations and experts as well as community members of potentially affected areas will be consulted to review and validate the work. To this end, technical and community level workshops have been planned and are in various stages of execution, in order to make the community more aware of what to do in the event of a tsunami. The technical workshops were aimed to target the technical organizations and the community leaders and to validate the evacuation maps by in country field visits. The community level workshops will target the persons living in the community for their input on the evacuation maps and the routes proposed. The pilot sites in which the project will be carried out are (1) community of each one of these 5 countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominican Republic, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad & Tobago.

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