PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), with the support of the European Union (EU), will be seeking to strengthen Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) at the Agency.
During recent years, the expansion of the mandate and operations of CARPHA, coupled with the volatile economies of its Member States, has resulted in an increasing volume and range of risks encountered by the Agency. In addition to the unique challenges of limited resources and threats from global events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, CARPHA faces a risk climate that is becoming increasingly more complex and prone to significant shocks.
ERM is an essential element of good organisational governance as it enables a proactive approach to business operations and allows for suitable systems of accountability. It is a systematic and organisation-wide approach, which supports an organisation’s achievement of its strategic objectives by proactively identifying, assessing, evaluating, prioritising, and controlling risks across the organisation.
On November 10, 2021, CARPHA signed a contract with KH Business Consultants Limited to strengthen ERM at the Agency. The project, which is expected to run over a period of six months, will see, among other things, the development and revision of a suite of ERM documents including the ERM Policy, a Risk Register and an ERM Manual. KH Business Consultants will also be engaged in capacity building of staff at the Agency in the area of ERM.
“As a regional organisation with a public health mandate, CARPHA is operating in a space characterised by high levels of uncertainty,” stated Dr Joy St John, executive director, CARPHA. “Now, more than ever, CARPHA needs to be forward-looking and in a position to manage the effects of these uncertainties on the strategic objectives of the Agency. ERM will help to ensure foresight and risk-informed decisions across all levels of the organisation, thereby maximising gains and avoiding unnecessary losses.”
Funding for this activity is being provided by the European Union (EU) through the 11th European Development Fund (11th EDF) Programme of Support for Health Security Strengthening for Prevention and Control of Outbreaks of Communicable Diseases in the Caribbean, for which CARPHA is the executing Agency.
The Secretariat of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) has supported CARPHA’s access to these resources. This project, which is valued at €8,000,000.00, has a duration of four years, and will enhance the institutional capacity of CARPHA to effectively support the Caribbean in preparing for and responding to public health emergencies.
