At OAS, experts debate cooperation to cope with natural disasters
At OAS, Experts Debate Cooperation to Cope with Natural Disasters in Preparation for Sixth Summit of the Americas
Regional experts gathered today at the headquarters of the Organization of American States (OAS) to exchange views and experiences on different approaches to prevention, mitigation, and risk management of natural disasters in view of the preparations for the Sixth Summit of the Americas to be held in Cartagena, Colombia, next year with the theme: "Connecting the Americas: Partners for Prosperity."
The Permanent Representative of Colombia, the Summit host country, Ambassador Luis Alfonso Hoyos, welcomed the panelists and explained that the purpose of the Roundtable was to gather views that will then be considered in the preparatory discussions for the hemispheric meeting. "As host country, we want to hear about the issues of prevention, preparedness, and coordination for disaster management and learn the significance of climate change and its relation to issues of development and poverty alleviation."
In the event, titled "The Road to Cartagena: Hemispheric Cooperation to Combat Natural Disasters," the OAS Director of Sustainable Development, Cletus Springer, mentioned that in the decade from 2001 to 2010 nearly 120 million people were affected by natural disasters, a figure double that of the previous decade. "Looking at these data, it is clear that we must continue to engage in a dialogue on these issues and more importantly to translate the dialogue into action," he said.
Presenting a positive perspective, the Vice President of the White Helmet Commission, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Argentina, Carlos Alberto Villalba, noted that the countries of the region that used to be recipients of humanitarian assistance have now become suppliers, which, in his view "redefine the role of our countries on the subject." Villalba further explained that the process of coordination of humanitarian assistance has been changed to introduce what he called a " process of horizontal articulation among all stakeholders," in which countries, international organizations, humanitarian institutions, subregional entities, and governmental and nongovernmental organizations for the first time reach agreements among themselves. He concluded that, with these points, "the road to Cartagena has already achieved huge progress."
Jean-Luc Poncelet, Area Manager in Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Relief of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) explained the level of effectiveness of the tools available to the Inter-American system and suggested that in the framework of the Summit the issue of natural disasters be assigned as a key priority
In the context of prevention, he said the continent has made significant advances that are not recognized or reported, as is the case of new disaster resistant public buildings, and therefore expressed the need to promote more effective communication. "Latin America and the Caribbean are regions that ad 24 percent of the total disasters of the world, which means that we, as a region, have a vast experience," he said. Poncelet then encouraged seeing the Summit as a stage to promote the exchange of experiences and programs, facilitate communication and share basic pragmatic approaches and measures in the area of prevention and response to natural disasters.
Finally, the President and founder of the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development and Director of the International Network for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement (INECE), Durwood Zaelke, explained that climate change is making disasters worse and is making the response more difficult. However, he noted that "there are actions that we can take today to significantly reduce the impact and future risks of natural disasters." Such actions, he added, can be implemented in the framework of existing laws and technology, and then encouraged the reduction of carbon dioxide and carbon black production, which would help to mitigate climate change and would bring benefits in the short term. He further referred to the relationship between development and vulnerability and the need to address this issue as part of the agenda for the 2012 hemispheric meeting.
Today’s roundtable is part of a series of events organized in the framework of preparations for the Summit of the Americas. Additional information about the process and past summits is available here