Chairman of the Caribbean Group (CARICOM), Prime Minister Mia Mottley, has welcomed the official launch of the Caribbean Regional Logistics Hub and Centre of Excellence in Barbados, calling it a serious milestone within the area’s catastrophe response capabilities.
Talking on the inauguration ceremony on Monday on the Grantley Adams Worldwide Airport, Mottley stated the ability will play a crucial position in delivering important aid throughout the essential first 48 to 72 hours following disasters or humanitarian crises.
At this time we opened the @wfp_Caribbean Regional Logistics Hub in Barbados.
The hub will service our area and considerably enhance our catastrophe response.
Because of @WFP, @WFPUSA, @Ch_JesusChrist, @EUinBarbados, @CanHCBarbados & @USEmbassyBtown.
That is the ability of partnerships. pic.twitter.com/7hN51QBCiF
— Mia Amor Mottley (@miaamormottley) May 26, 2025
“This hub is about saving lives. Let’s be very, very clear,” the Barbados Prime Minister stated, noting that the placement of the hub in Barbados—“essentially the most easterly” Caribbean island—was strategically chosen for its security and proximity to the area. “If you must wait on stuff to come back from Panama, that’s 1,200 miles away. If you must convey stuff from Miami, 1,500 miles away,” she added.
The brand new logistics hub is designed to inventory and dispatch meals, drugs, and different crucial provides to weak populations throughout the area. Whereas its main focus is emergency response, Mottley emphasised its broader relevance. “It’s not simply restricted to emergency responses for disasters. It is usually going to be for humanitarian crises,” she stated, highlighting the “totally devastating scenario in Haiti” the place practically half the inhabitants is affected by meals insecurity.
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Developed by the United Nations World Meals Programme (WFP) in partnership with the Barbados authorities, the ability presents 2,500 sq. metres of space for storing, 1,300 pallet positions, and temperature-controlled chilly storage. Funding for the venture got here from Canada, the European Union, USAID, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
WFP’s Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, Lola Castro, underscored the significance of the hub in bolstering catastrophe preparedness. “Having seen how devastating hurricanes and different hazards may be within the Caribbean, we’re proud to have this Caribbean Regional Logistics Hub in place,” she stated. “WFP works with companions within the area and globally to boost nationwide response mechanisms to enhance the effectivity and effectiveness of catastrophe response as a way to save lives.”
Elizabeth Riley, Govt Director of the Barbados-based Caribbean Catastrophe Emergency Administration Company (CDEMA), described the hub as “the realisation of a long-standing imaginative and prescient” that took form throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This transformative initiative marks a crucial development within the area’s capability to reply swiftly and successfully to emergencies by means of the Regional Response Mechanism,” she stated. Riley famous that catastrophe activations have elevated sharply—from simply two between 2000 and 2009 to eight previously 5 years—84 per cent of which have been on account of climate-related hazards.
The Centre of Excellence throughout the hub may even function a coaching and simulation website for regional catastrophe responders, aiming to strengthen capabilities throughout the Caribbean by means of shared follow and collaboration.
