The Secretary General of The Association of Caribbean States Keynotes at Action on Disaster Relief 2023

Secretary General of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), Rodolfo Sabonge, presented as a keynote speaker at the Action on Disaster Relief 2023, which took place in Panama from February 22-23.

At the region's largest humanitarian and development meeting, the Secretary General spoke about the issues facing the Greater Caribbean region. According to Sabonge, the effects of the Pandemic and Climate Change have highlighted the region's multidemensional vulnerabilities.

The ACS aims to contribute to the improvement of humanitarian response to disasters and emergencies through the development and application of the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index to prevent developing countries from spiralling into debt crises due to successive disasters such as floods, droughts, storms and hurricanes.

The ACS will discuss this and other issues of utmost importance for the survival of humanity at its 7th International Cooperation Conference on 8 May this year, followed by the 9th Summit of Heads of State on 12 May, in Antigua, Guatemala.

About the ACS

The Association of Caribbean States is the organization for consultation, cooperation and concerted action in trade, transport, sustainable tourism and natural disasters in the Greater Caribbean. Its Member States are Antigua & Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago and Venezuela. Its Associate Members are Aruba, Curacao, (France on behalf of French Guiana, Saint Barthelemy and Saint Martin ), Guadeloupe, Martinique, Sint Maarten, (The Netherlands on behalf of Bonaire, Saba, and Sint Eustatius ), Turks and Caicos.