The UN and the regions: The case of health sector coordination for disaster management in the Caribbean

Abstract

The Caribbean is one of the most disaster-prone subregions in the world. It experiences multiple natural hazards: tropical storms and hurricanes, floods and flash floods, landslides and mudslides as well as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. In recent years, repeated hurricanes and tropical storms devastated Grenada and parts of Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, Dominican Republic and the Bahamas and claimed many hundreds of lives while hundreds of thousands were badly affected. The economical and structural impact on the countries often turns back development efforts by many years.