Disaster risk reduction in Barbados: Situational analysis 2022

This report provides an overview of the Situational Analysis of Disaster Risk Reduction efforts in Barbados. It supports the implementation of the Barbados Country Work Programme as well as the design and revision of other critical national instruments. These include the National Adaptation Plan, Medium and Long-Term (National) Development Strategies, sectorial policies, strategies and plans, and other supporting national instruments to support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

Key findings of the study have revealed that even though Barbados is generally regarded as an outlier within the Caribbean Archipelago, the island has been subjected to an array of intra-island and inter- island hazards to varying degrees. Such hazards stem from either a hydrometeorological, geological, environmental, chemical, biological, technological and societal basis. In particular, the direct costs, indirect costs and secondary effects associated with the incidence of hydrometeorological hazards has intensified in recent times. This was particularly observed within the national risk landscape during the passage of Hurricane Elsa in July 2021.