As the 2025 Atlantic Hurricane Season approaches, Saint Lucia is taking decisive steps to enhance its disaster response systems. A joint mission between the Government of Saint Lucia and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is working to ensure swift financial aid reaches vulnerable households during emergencies.
The mission assessed Saint Lucia’s ability to expand emergency cash support, including assistance to families not currently covered by existing programmes. Lilia Ramjeawan, head of WFP’s Satellite Office in Saint Lucia, highlighted discussions on digital payments, better data management and stronger coordination between key ministries to ensure efficient aid delivery.
“This mission is really an important step in Saint Lucia’s efforts to strengthen the systems that protect people before the disasters happen,” Ramjeawan said. “So by coming together to improve how we prepare for emergency cash assistance, and by testing early action through simulation Saint Lucia is shaping new and innovative ways to get ahead of disasters, not just here but across the region.”
The ministries of equity and finance reaffirmed their commitment to supporting those most in need through improved planning and operational readiness.
This initiative forms part of a broader Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR) mission, conducted in collaboration with NEMO, covering logistics, telecommunications and early warning systems.
The mission was followed by an “Anticipatory Action” simulation exercise, the first of its kind in the Caribbean, which will test Saint Lucia’s ability to take early action ahead of a hurricane warning.
Dr Charmaine Hippolyte Emmanuel, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Equity, emphasised the importance of early action in protecting at-risk communities.
“By conducting this simulation exercise we want to ensure that we capture the lessons learnt, we want to ensure that persons know exactly how the mechanism works so in the event of an actual storm, everything will be well coordinated. We will lessen the psychological and physical effects the storm will have on our clients.”
By working together with stakeholders to improve readiness for emergency cash assistance and testing early action through simulation, the Ministry of Equity, Social Justice and Empowerment continues its mandate of helping to shape innovative approaches for disaster preparedness in the region.
