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: Easy-to-understand tsunami inundation and evacuation maps at the community level in Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominican Republic, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad & Tobago; Improved awareness of tsunami hazards, development of evacuation plans and the adoption of mitigation measures were jointly presented by the host country teams and IHC; Public Awareness and Education in the project community, updating of the national level Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) as well as community level Emergency Operating Procedures (EOPs); As a part of overall tsunami awareness in the project communities, CTIC and the project countries also held community awareness sessions, which focused on: Engaging the community regarding the revised evacuation maps – this was meant to ensure the communities’ familiarity with the inundation and particularly, the evacuation maps, before the IHC mapping workshops. It has been found that the more invested and involved the community is in these projects, the more successful and sustainable they are; Public awareness and Education regarding the Tsunami Ready designation and its processes – there is always a need for the project communities and community leaders to understand the importance and far reaching nature of the Tsunami Ready designation and the level of preparedness it brings to the average citizen, in knowing how to react quickly in a dangerous situation such as an impending tsunami; Basic public awareness and education about tsunamis – this is a continuous and ongoing process to keep the awareness and basic knowledge about tsunamis, in the minds of the community members;

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