Caribbean Webinar Series Session I – Disaster Resilience in the Private Sector

About

The Caribbean is one of the world's most disaster-prone regions, facing increasingly frequent and severe hazards such as hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, and climate-related threats. These disasters disrupt livelihoods, damage infrastructure, and disproportionately impact small island developing states (SIDS). 

The private sector, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), is both highly vulnerable to disaster impacts and crucial to recovery and resilience. Strengthening private sector engagement before, during, and after disasters is critical to achieving sustainable development and building resilient communities. 

This webinar series is a collaborative effort among the UN Global Compact Network Caribbean (Network Caribbean), a local platform of the world's largest corporate sustainability initiative, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), the private sector alliance for disaster resilient societies ARISE, the UN lead agency for the coordination of disaster risk reduction, the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), working to protect the rights of every child across 190 countries and territories, and the UN Connecting Business initiative (CBi), which promotes private sector engagement in disaster risk management, propose to collaborate on enhancing business resilience and multi-stakeholder partnerships across the region.

This kickoff session explores how Caribbean businesses can strengthen their disaster preparedness and resilience through proven strategies and multi-stakeholder coordination.

Objective

Enhance the role of the private sector in disaster risk reduction, preparedness, response, and recovery across Caribbean SIDS through strengthened partnerships, capacity-building, and coordinated action.

Expected Outcomes

1. Improved Business Awareness and Preparedness: Enhanced awareness and capacity among Caribbean businesses to prepare for and respond to natural hazards and other crises.
2. Partnership Mechanisms: Strengthened and formalized partnerships between businesses, governments, and humanitarian actors to ensure coordinated disaster responses.
3. Knowledge Exchange: Shared tools, best practices, and lessons learned among businesses and networks across the Caribbean.

Target Audience

• SMEs and corporate actors in the Caribbean
• National disaster management agencies
• Business associations and Chambers of commerce

Schedule and Access

All sessions would be held at 10:00 -11:30am (Barbados time). Session I is open to both participants and non-participants of the UN Global Compact. Sessions II and III are only open to participants of the UN Global Compact.