The online meeting was inaugurated by Ms. Tonni Brodber, Head of Office a.i., UN Women Multi-Country Office for the Caribbean; the host of the meeting, Speaker of the House of Assembly the Honourable Andy Daniel (St. Lucia), Vice-President for the Caribbean of the ParlAmericas Parliamentary Network on Climate Change; and Member of the National Assembly Elizabeth Cabezas (Ecuador), President of ParlAmericas. The Honourable Dr. Gale Rigobert (St. Lucia), Minister for Education, Innovation, Gender Relations, and Sustainable Development moderated the meeting.
The meeting discussions were informed by presentations about gender inequality in disaster and crisis situations drawing upon the expertise of Ms. Angie Dazé from the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and Ms. Kyana Bowen from the UN Women MCO for the Caribbean, followed by a presentation by Ms. Elizabeth Riley from the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) about the differences between hazard types and national response methods. Participants were also introduced to the EnGenDER project by Mr. Massimiliano Tozzi from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which connects these themes and illustrates how a holistic and gender-inclusive approach to climate change and disaster risk reduction will accelerate positive change and achieve greater impact.
In addition, short presentations were given on resources developed for parliamentarians. Mr. Jack Hardcastle introduced a recent Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) climate change toolkit designed specifically for small island states. The Honourable Speaker Daniel presented on the ParlAmericas co-authored publications, COVID-19: An Analysis of the Legislative Agenda and the Centering of Gender Equality in Legislative Responses and the Parliamentary Protocol for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation