PROGRAMME OVERVIEW

The Caribbean Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) Resilience, Sustainable Energy and Marine Biodiversity Programme (RESEMBID) commenced operations on 1^st January 2019, and will be implemented over a period of 69 months (no-extension included). The programme supports the sustainable human development efforts of the 12 Caribbean OCTs, namely: Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Montserrat, Turks and Caicos Islands, Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten, and Saint-Barthélemy.

Financed under the 11th European Development Fund (EDF) Caribbean OCT Regional Programme, RESEMBID is being implemented by Expertise France, with the primary stakeholders being the 12 Caribbean OCTs. The Prime Minister of Sint Maarten has been designated Regional Authorising Officer (RAO) for the 11th EDF Caribbean Regional Programme, and as such represents the 12 Caribbean OCTs vis-à-vis the EU. The RAO liaises with national authorities and other stakeholders of the Caribbean OCTs and plays a key role in information-sharing and knowledge management.

The overall objective of RESEMBID, is to support the sustainable human development efforts of participating countries and territories, with the Priority Focus Areas being:

1. Resilience;
2. Sustainable Energy; and
3. Marine Biodiversity.

The foundation document establishing the Programme and agreed upon by the OCTs, provides a useful situation analysis and articulates the strategic rationale for the three Priority Focus Areas. It further outlines specific ways and means in which these could be operationalised across the OCTs. The economies of the OCTs, in keeping with many small island developing states (SIDS) are disproportionately reliant on tourism and imported fossil fuels, and are highly exposed to extreme weather events – particularly tropical cyclones.

This economic model and particular confluence of factors render OCTs highly vulnerable economically, financially and environmentally. The three core objectives of the Programme are therefore designed to support the effort of the OCTs to address or mitigate these vulnerabilities. They are:

1. To increase energy efficiency of infrastructure with high impact on energy consumption;
2. To improve protection and sustainable management of the OCTs marine biodiversity; and
3. To increase the resilience of Caribbean OCTs to adapt to extreme and recurrent natural events.