Barbados, June 18, 2021 (CDEMA) – The Chairman of the Council of the
Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), the Honorable Vincent
Byron Jr, Attorney General and Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs, St
Kitts-Nevis, is pleased to announce the appointment of Ms. Elizabeth Riley as
Executive Director of the Agency with effect from July 1, 2021.
Ms. Riley, a Barbadian national, joined the
team at the CDEMA Coordinating Unit in 2001 and has been acting as Executive
Director since May 1, 2020. Prior to this she held the post of Deputy Executive
Director since April 2012. She also acted in the Deputy position between 2009
and 2012.
As Executive Director, she will be responsible
for the provision of overall direction and leadership to CDEMA. This will
include implementing the organization’s mandate through programme management
including strategic planning, monitoring and evaluation, resource mobilization,
financial management, partnerships and stakeholder relationships, and corporate
communications.
Ms. Riley has over 20 years’ experience in
disaster management at the regional and international levels in various
capacities. At CDEMA, she has inter alia provided leadership for the Agency’s
technical programming and provided strategic guidance in the areas of
Preparedness and Response, Mitigation, Recovery, Education and Training and
Information Management. At the operational level, Ms. Riley has played a
leadership role in the coordination of regional responses to every major
regional emergency event since 2004. Her field experience includes the
leadership of CDEMA deployment teams in the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma (2017)
and Dorian (2019). Ms. Riley is currently playing a leadership role in the
coordination of the region’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, response to the
eruption of the La Soufriere Volcano in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and the
ongoing floods in Guyana and Suriname.
She has written, presented and published
technical papers in disaster management and environmental management whilst
attached to CDEMA and prior to that during her tenure at the University of the
West Indies and the Ministry of Physical Development and Environment in
Barbados. Ms. Riley has also lectured in Disaster Management at the University
of the West Indies, Mona. At the international level, Ms. Riley has contributed
to a range of technical advisory committees and is currently Vice-Chair of the
ICG/Caribe Early Warning Systems Group of Experts on Coastal Hazards. She also
sits on the Regional Advisory Group leading the implementation of the Regional
Strategy for Latin America and the Caribbean on Disaster Risk Management in the
Agriculture and Food and Nutrition Sectors.
Ms. Riley holds a M.A (Econ) in Environment
and Development from University of Manchester, United Kingdom, BSc. (Hons) in
Geography from the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica and a Masters
Certificate in Results Based Monitoring and Evaluation and Information Systems
from the University of Laval, Quebec.
CDEMA also takes this opportunity to welcome
Ms Riley in her new position and wish her the very best in her tenure.
