EMATT PRESIDENT 1ST AGM REPORT
Colleagues, as we experience this first AGM and anniversary let us be mindful that EMATT’s official launch in 2019 came after many years of agonizing, planning, and doubting. Also, as it has affected just about every aspect of our lives today, COVID 19 also affected our ability to commemorate and celebrate, in October, the first anniversary of our official launch. Even the scheduling of this AGM has been impacted by pandemic-related restrictions, although those considerations were not the only influencing factors. That said, here we are. Tradition and reason suggest that at its AGM an organization should review its experiences over the particular reporting period. I plan to do just that. So, starting at the beginning, let’s remind ourselves of who we are, what we aim to be and why we exist.
So, what are we?
EMATT can best be described as a civil society organization in the sense that it is a non-sate, not-for-profit organization, the members of which are all volunteers.
What drove the formation of EMATT?
The need for an organization like EMATT was recognized a few years ago during the hosting of a flood management symposium, put on by PODS Marketing Mix Ltd (a company that offers emergency management products and training). That symposium highlighted the many deficiencies of our country’s disaster risk reduction practice, chief among which were the chronic shortage of qualified personnel, insufficient resources and the absence of meaningful collaboration among the relevant stakeholder agencies.
It is to her credit that the Managing Director of PODs, also our Interim Secretary, Stacey-Ann Pi Osoria, locked on to that need and never let it go. She can justifiably be called our founder, and is our Interim Secretary. We look forward to hearing from her shortly.
What is EMATT about?
Briefly stated, EMATT’s mission is: To be a catalyst for the continuous enhancement of Disaster Risk Reduction in Trinidad and Tobago. In terms of a vision, EMATT sees itself as being the premier civil society organization in bringing together expertise and developing strategic alliances for the continuous promotion of DRR best practice among various interest groups in Trinidad and Tobago.
As we undertake the work that lies before us, let us be mindful to stay true to this vision and mission. Do not be afraid, whenever you see the need, to ask yourself and/or the membership whether or not we are straying off course.
If, as we acknowledge, our role is to bring DRR actors together, then it was incumbent on us to identify those actors. And we did. We identified the ODPM, TEMA, MoE, MoH, MoSD &FS, MoWI and MoRD & LG, to name a few. And, now that we “found” them, we had to decide what we were going to do with them. Enter foundation member, Dawn Hackett, a strategic business consultant, to lead the way. Under her very competent guidance, we drew up our plan for strategically engaging these actors. Fortunately, it turned out that the persons at the head of both the ODPM and TEMA were persons familiar with many of EMATT’s foundational members.
This made gaining their acceptance of us as credible partners a lot easier. It must be noted, too, that early in our strategic planning journey we were encouraged to come up with a slogan or statement that encapsulated what we were all about. That exercise led to the formulation of our watchwords: Consistent, Persistent, Credible. In settling on these words, we committed EMATT to being Consistent in its DRR messaging, Persistent in its mission to engage, and through its consistency and persistence, becoming Credible.
We have begun to show our worth as partners. For example, we are represented on a committee that is currently engaged in updating the draft DRR policy and DM legislation for T&T. This is an exercise sponsored by the IFRCS, in collaboration with the ODPM. We are also participating in the ARISE initiative, a UN-driven PPP project, led locally by AMCHAM. We supported the ODPM in a dialogue with one of the Bamboo settlements, a community that is at risk, mainly from the Flood hazard.
To get our messages out we identified several channels of communication. With regard to social media, we established a Face book page on which we post various types of information, including DRR-related articles penned by our members. Again, we should note that our overall communication effort has benefited tremendously from the great guidance and tremendous expertise of fellow member, Kevin Garcia, a Public Relations and Communications professional. To get actual work done, we have created a number of committees, among which the strategic goals for the next two years have been distributed.
As we enter 2021, let each of us choose at least one committee, preferably more than one, with which to work to pursue the goals we have set. Notwithstanding the uncertainties that are certain to arise, let us also embrace that work, confident in the assurance that, because our cause is just and our intentions honourable, God will guide our path and lead us to success.
In closing, I take the opportunity, as Interim President, to thank all of you for your contribution during the past year and also to wish you, and your families, a holy, happy Christmas and all the best in 2021 and beyond.
Thank you.
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