Page 10 Participants on Day 1 of the workshop. T he Welfare Department of the Ministry of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs (MPEA), in Barbados, sought technical assistance from CARICAD to improve its organisational readiness for its role in crisis and disaster response in Barbados. The MPEA is one of the Government agencies assigned to provide Disaster Social Relief services as part of the national response and recovery mechanism. The current Disaster Response Plan of the Welfare Department speaks to provision of Disaster Social Relief (DSR) for which the MPEA has primary responsibility. As a consequence, the Welfare Department is responsible for ensuring that the necessary relief services are meted out to victims during the Emergency and Recovery Phases of a disaster. The MPEA is therefore being relied upon for a quick uninhibited response on such occasions. The training sessions took place at the CARICAD Secretariat on the afternoons of Tuesday, August 13th and Wednesday, August 14th. There were more than 30 participants in total, divided into two separate groups. The administrative context was set on both days. Brief remarks were made by staff of the Welfare Department. Day 1 Kim Bobb-Waithe, Chief Welfare Officer (Ag) Lorraine Willett, Deputy Chief Welfare Officer (Ag) Day 2 Sharon-Rose Gittens, Senior Welfare Officer (Ag) Lorraine Willett, Deputy Chief Welfare Officer (Ag) “Thank you” remarks were delivered on the behalf of participants at the end of each session. On Day 1, these was delivered by Vincent Lovell, Welfare Officer, and on Day 2, by Pauline Miller, Senior Welfare Officer. In setting the tone for the Leading and Managing in Crises workshops, the Executive Director of CARICAD Devon Rowe said in part:
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