**Carl Smith
NEMA Coordinator**
**Disaster Preparedness**
The Bahamas is in the process of developing an integrated institutional framework to support the country’s National Relief Management Policy in the aftermath of a disaster or an emergency. The institutional framework will outline the responsibilities of all agencies involved in providing relief services in The Bahamas following a disaster as a means of streamlining the process into a coordinated national strategy.
The framework will also include a donation management strategy that will outline procedures for the solicitation of donations, if necessary, at the local, regional and international levels.
The establishment of an integrated national strategy to detail the roles of all agencies involved in providing relief in The Bahamas is part of the mandate set forth in the Disaster Preparedness and Response Act, 2006, passed by Parliament earlier this year, and enacted on March 1.
Mr. Carl Smith, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Coordinator and Undersecretary at the Cabinet Office, said the Act provides for a more effective organization and mitigation of, preparedness for, response to and recovery from emergencies and/or disasters.
*“We anticipate that this new integrated and holistic approach that will detail the roles of all of the partners will, among other things, help to minimize loss and dislocation in the face of an emergency or disaster,”* Mr. Smith said.
NEMA has been working very closely with the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA).