Disaster risk reduction and vulnerable populations in Jamaica: protecting children within the comprehensive disaster management (CDM) framework
This paper examines the efforts of Jamaica’s risk reduction programme, through the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), to address the special needs of children in disaster situations, with a focus on what has been done in meeting these needs and how effective these interventions have been. Children make up approximately half of the total Jamaican population. It is for this reason that the ODPEM is focusing on the needs of this very vulnerable group.