Regional Workshop: DISASTER PREPAREDNESS MAKES THE DIFFERENCE 18th & 19th June, 2018 Workshop Report Funded by European Union Civil Protecon and Humanitarian Aid 1. Report - Regional Workshop: Disaster Preparation makes the Difference: Contributions from ECHO and its partners to strategies for the Latin America and Caribbean region June 2018 We would like to express our deepest appreciation to all those who participated to the Disaster Preparedness Makes the Difference Regional workshop. This is the first time a DIPECHO disaster preparedness workshop is held jointly with the 3 sub regions together and this has been an enriching experience. We would like to acknowledge the crucial role of the organizing committee, who invested full effort in guiding the facilitation team in achieving the goal. Last but not least, many thanks to the ECHO partners for their commitments in demonstrating that disaster preparedness saves lives. Compiled by: UNISDR Photos: Upper-left photo shared by CEPREDENAC Center photos shared by the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Bottom-right photo shared by UNISDR This document has been made possible by the support of the United Nations Disaster Risk Reduction Strategy (UNISDR) and with a financial contribution by the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG-ECHO). These organizations are not responsible for the opinions contained in this document given that they do not reflect their official positions. It is prohibited to reproduce all or part of this document, either digitally or in any other format, without the vision of the owners of the intellectual property rights. DG-ECHO UNISDR Directorate-General for European Civil Protection United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction and Humanitarian Aid Operations Regional Office for the Americas and the ECHO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean Caribbean City of Knowledge (Clayton) Panama. Managua, Nicaragua http://www.eird.org/americas/index.html Website: http://ec.europa.eu/echo 2 1. Table of Contents 1. Acronyms .............................................................................................................. 4 2. Executive Summary ............................................................................................... 6 3. Introduction ........................................................................................................ 10 a. Workshop Objective ................................................................................................... 11 b. Expected results ......................................................................................................... 11 c. Methodology .............................................................................................................. 12 4. Regional contribution to disaster preparation ..................................................... 13 a. Central America .......................................................................................................... 13 b. South America ............................................................................................................ 14 c. Caribbean ................................................................................................................... 16 5. Success stories at the local, regional and national levels ...................................... 17 a. Colombia: Strengthening resilience of the Wayúu indigenous community .................... 17 b. Guatemala: INFORM, an instrument to understand risk ............................................... 18 c. "EWS Verification List" in the Caribbean. ..................................................................... 18 6. Early Warning Systems: An unfinished challenge ................................................. 20 a. Bolivia: EWS and the DEWETRA Platform .................................................................... 20 b. Cuba: Risk reduction management centers and Early Warning Units. ........................... 21 c. Honduras: The tsunami recognition program ............................................................... 22 7. Collected Evidence .............................................................................................. 23 8. Recommendations for Implementation................................................................ 26 a. Recommendations for Central America ....................................................................... 26 b. Recommendations for South America ......................................................................... 29 c. Recommendations for the Caribbean .......................................................................... 36 9. Conclusions ......................................................................................................... 39 10. Attachments ....................................................................................................... 40 a. Attachment I: Agenda ................................................................................................. 40 b. Annex II: List of Participants ........................................................................................ 43 3 1. 1. Acronyms ACF Action Against Hunger CAPRADE Andean Committee for Disaster Prevention and Assistance CARICOM Caribbean Community CDEMA Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency CDM Comprehensive Disaster Management CEPREDENAC Coordinator Center for the Prevention of Natural Disasters in Central America CGRR Management Centers for Risk Reduction (Cuba) CIMA Research and Environmental Monitoring Centre COLRED Local Disaster Reduction Coordinators (Guatemala) CONIDA Peruvian Space Agency CONRED National Disaster Reduction Coordinator (Guatemala) CRM Comprehensive Risk Management DIPECHO European Commission Disaster Preparation Program ECHO European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations DRM Disaster Risk Management FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FICR International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies GTANGRD Group of High Level Authorities for Comprehensive Disaster Risk Management from (UNASUR) INTECAP Technical Training and Productivity Institute (Guatemala) IOC UNESCO Inter-Governmental Coordination Group MADR Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Colombia) PAHO/WHO Pan-American Health Organization PAT Early Warning Points (Cuba) PCGIR Central American Policy for Comprehensive Disaster Risk Management UNDP United Nations Development Program PREDECAN Andean Community Disaster Prevention PRRD Regional Disaster Risk Reduction Plan PTWC Tsunami Alert Center in the Pacific Ocean DRR Disaster Risk Management EWS Early Warning Systems SENAMHI National Meteorology and Hydrology Service (Bolivia) 4 1. SICA Central American Integration System TAC CDEMA Technical Advice Committee UNASUR Union of South American Nations UNFPA United Nations Population Fund UNGRD National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (Colombia) UNISDR United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction VIDECI Vice Ministry of Civil Defense (Bolivia) 5 1. 2. Executive Summary Over the last two decades, the DIPECHO program has made an impact in determining financing priorities for disaster preparation throughout the region, by holding consultation workshops with key actors involved in this area both at national and sub-regional levels in Central America, South America and the Caribbean. Guidelines, recommendations and strategies are created during each workshop, all of which facilitate and complement sub-regional events. In 2018, actors from the three sub-regions, Central America, South America and the Caribbean, met for the first time to share visions, experiences, knowledge and ideas about how investments in disaster preparation make a difference. This event was a preliminary activity for the Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Americas, which took place in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia from June 20 – 22, 2018. The workshop sought to illustrate how certain degree of preparation (with or without ECHO financing) can make a difference in disaster response and early recovery. This is a strategically important point, especially because limited resources require the optimization of resource allocation for disaster preparation. Of equal importance is showing how these actions are integrated into disaster risk management strategies and how disaster preparation is aligned with national and regional risk reduction actions. 130 key actors participated in the workshop, including representatives that work in the areas of disaster preparation and response in Latin America and the Caribbean, staff from national disaster risk management systems in the region, managers of intergovernmental disaster risk management organizations, current partners from the European Commission and other strategic partners including international, regional and sub-regional entities, United Nations agencies, the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, multilateral agencies and bilateral cooperation agencies working on this issue.1 The workshop was not focused on a generic presentation of projects financed by ECHO, but rather a presentation of experiences and achievements expected over the next 18 months. Altogether, 31 experiences were systematized; 7 from Central America, 13 from South America and 11 from the Caribbean. These were 1 See Annex II: Participant List 6 1. key inputs that helped structure the agenda of the workshop