Peta-Anne Baker
Poverty, Inequality, and Disaster Risk Reduction in the Caribbean
Peta-Anne Baker of the University of the West Indies–Mona in Kingston, Jamaica, is this year’s Hokenstad International Lecturer. Baker will advocate for social work engagement in a disaster reduction strategy that equally prioritizes community building and policy and more common relief coordination and mental health interventions. As she will review, the January 12 earthquake in Haiti offered a stark reminder of the extent to which the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) are vulnerable to a range of natural hazards, including earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, tsunamis, landslides, volcanoes, and drought.
In her address, Baker will substantiate why poverty does not provide a sufficient explanation for the levels of devastation caused by natural and man-made hazards. She will recommend an examination of social inequality’s extent in those countries with the highest levels of loss of life and physical and economic destruction.
Don’t miss this lecture and the opportunity to learn about how you can increase content on disaster management in the social work curriculum.