The Tribune

THE Minnis administration and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with support from the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom will stage a pledge conference on January 13, 2020 in Nassau to mobilise financial and technical support for recovery efforts following the passage of Hurricane Dorian.

Dorian, a Category Five hurricane, hit the islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama in September and left widespread devastation estimated at $3.4 billion, according to assessments conducted by the Inter-American Development Bank and the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.

The pledge conference will be held on New Providence and aims to galvanise support from the private sector, high-net-worth individuals, other governments and donors who have expressed interest in assisting with the recovery.

The government’s recovery priorities will be outlined during a press conference scheduled for December 11.

“Parts of Abaco and Grand Bahama were decimated by Hurricane Dorian. To date, the official death count stands at 70 with more missing. Thousands of residents have been displaced. We are a resilient people and the government of the Bahamas welcomes all initiatives that will help us move along the path of recovery. Support from the private sector and from persons who consider the Bahamas a second home will help to augment our efforts to build back better and stronger and with more resilience,” said Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis.

UNDP resident representative to the Bahamas, Denise Antonio explained, “The high-income classification for the Bahamas means that the government will have to mobilise private sector or other donor financing to pay for its short and medium-term recovery needs.”

She said the UNDP is committed to supporting the government to mobilise recovery financing because the country has limited access to overseas development assistance and concessional financing due to its classification as a high-income country.

Companies and donors interested in participating in the pledge conference can visit the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce’s website at https://www.thebahamaschamber.com or the government’s website at www.bahamas.gov.bs to access registration information.