British Virgin Islands on the path to developing a shock responsive approach to social protection

On official request, WFP assisted the Government of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) to improve the country's social protection framework to better cater to the needs of its most vulnerable citizens following a disaster. Nineteen governmental and non-governmental officials, representing 10 institutions in social protection, education, health and disaster management, actively engaged in a capacity strengthening exercise in Shock Responsive Social Protection (SRSP) on 10-13 December 2018.

Through collaborative engagement, participants developed a roadmap that looks at four areas for continuous engagement in emergency preparedness and response: SRSP Coordination, SRSP Data Management & Targeting, SRSP Delivery Mechanism and SRSP Design. This activity accompanies several WFP activities to improve SRSP in the Caribbean.

In 2019, with the support of the European Union Civil Protection and Humanitarian Organisation (ECHO), WFP will continue to work on shock responsive social protection programming in collaboration with the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) and its Participating States.

Areas of support will include analysis of social protection programmes and the development of mechanisms, platforms and strategies for their expansion in the event of an emergency; strengthening national information management systems and strategies, and the use of delivery mechanisms of social protection programmes during shocks, ensuring shock responses are gender and nutrition sensitive; leveraging partnerships to bring countries together to share knowledge and expertise in shock responsive social protection; and developing surge capacity for shock responsive social protection within CDEMA's Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM).