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26 27 THE CARIBBEAN DISASTER EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY U.S.Agencyfor InternationalDevelopment (AID),aswell asgovernmental affairsofficesof countries suchasCana- da,theUK,Austria,andBrazil,amongothers.Jacksonsays that theagency’sgoal is toraiseapproximately$30-$40 million (US) for thenext threeyearsof itsoperations. CDEMAhasastaff complementof about21direct employees,withtheabilitytoextendthatnumberona per-projectbasis.“But,wearenotuptothat capacityat themoment,”Jackson laments.“We’vebeenchallengedby theconstancyof ourmember states tohonor theirobli- gations.So,we’vebeenfunctioning,inthebestof times, somewherebetween80and85percent intermsof the annual collectionrateof our corecontributors,andthat has impactedthestaffingof all positions,at themoment, andweoperatesomewherebetween18and20of that 21.” Originally,inorder tobeamemberofCDEMA,a countryhadtobeamemberofCARICOM.“But thatwas transcendedbytheopportunitiespresentedtoother countries toseekwhat iscalledassociatemembership withCARICOMandthat is thesituationwehavewith theBritishOverseasTerritories,”Jacksonsays.“So,wehave 14fullmembersofCARICOMandfouroutof thesix BritishOverseasTerritories,withtheCayman Islandsand Bermudastill notbeingmembersofCDEMA.We recent- lyhaddiscussionswiththeDutcharound joiningthe organizationspecificallySt.Maarten,andwehavebeen in dialoguewiththeFrenchterritories,whicharenot inde- pendent,regardingestablishingacooperationagreement. Theseeffortsaredesignedto fullyrealizeandexpress the potential benefitsofhavingawider,regional system. “Whatwesaytothemis:‘Look,thereareeconomiesof scale,thereare regional publicgoodsandservices that youcanbenefit from,includingmorestrategicapplication of resources towardsyourown interests; leveragingthe negotiationspace for fundingfromthedevelopment communityinabetterway; andpullingresources from othermembers tosupportyourneeds,not just indisaster time,but also in“blue-sky”times,whereyoumayhave humanresourcesor specializationchallenges.’ “But also,wesharewiththemthepotential for themto contribute tothecountrieswithinthepoolwiththeirown capabilitiesandskill sets.Thebeautyof theCDEMAsys- temis that it advances thecapacityofmember statesby identifyingwhat isgood inanyparticular stateandtaking that,sharing itwiththeothermembers,andsupporting the replicationof thosebestpractices inother countries. So,itdoesprovidesomeopportunities for countries tobe acknowledgedandtobeaffirmedas leaders inspecific areasandtocontribute tothedevelopmentof others,but alsotobenefit fromother resources.That’s themessage wecarry.We’renot surewhyithas takenso longforother countries tocomeonboard.I knowthatoneof thecon- cerns that everyonealwaysputsonthe table isyouhave topayasubscription.But,I thinkanysystemthat isuseful requires resources for it torun.And ifyouhavemore