Resilience, Sustainable Energy and Marine Biodiversity Programme (RESEMBID)

The Caribbean Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) Resilience, Sustainable Energy and Marine Biodiversity Programme (RESEMBID) 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.

The thematic priorities of the Programme are: resilience, sustainable energy and marine biodiversity. The economies of the OCTs are disproportionately reliant on tourism and imported fossil fuels, and are highly exposed to extreme weather events – particularly tropical cyclones. The insular situation of the islands and particular confluence of factors render OCTs highly vulnerable areas. The Programme aims to reduce structural vulnerability and increase resilience of the economic infrastructure and fragile coastal ecosystems of the islands. The three core objectives of the Programme are therefore designed to support the effort of the OCTs to address or mitigate these vulnerabilities. These 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.

The Program is financed under the 11th European Development Fund (EDF) Caribbean OCT Regional Programme, and is being implemented by Expertise France. 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 RESEMBID provides funding in the form of grants, usually awarded following a call for submission of proposals. Initiatives should be anchored in demonstrable priorities and needs of the OCT. To this end, RESEMBID offers two funding windows:

• The Covid-19 Resilience Response Facility: designed to respond to resilience needs caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The Programme’s regular Funding Window: managed through a traditional Call-for-Proposal exercise.

RESEMBID has launched its Call for Submission of Proposals (CSP). Submission of concept notes and project documents will be accepted on a rolling basis, with 31 March 2022 being the cut-off date. For more information on the CSP visit the OCTA news section.