Latin America and the Caribbean Hailed as Pioneers in Regional Disaster Management Cooperation

(Guatemala/Panama, 6 May 2015): Emergency Relief Coordinator and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Valerie Amos, said today that Latin America and the Caribbean are pioneers on regional cooperation for emergency management and disaster risk reduction, and their experience will provide vital inputs to the first World Humanitarian Summit, taking place in Istanbul next May.

“The World Humanitarian Summit provides an ideal opportunity for the region to show global leadership in setting a new humanitarian agenda to tackle the challenges of the future,” Ms. Amos said, speaking today at the World Humanitarian Summit Regional Consultation for Latin America and the Caribbean. The event was hosted by the Government of Guatemala in conjunction with the seventh regional Meeting on Humanitarian Assistance Mechanisms.

“Humanitarian action must be about more than distributing aid after a disaster. It must be about empowering people, especially women and girls, to live lives of dignity,” Ms. Amos added.

Over the past year, regional aid organizations have conducted wide-ranging consultations in 31 Latin American and Caribbean countries to bring together the perspectives of community groups, people affected by humanitarian crises, governments, regional organizations, United Nations agencies, humanitarian and development organizations, academics and the private sector. Nearly 5,000 people were consulted, of which half were people affected by disaster and civil society groups.

“We can no longer think of women and men affected by conflict and disaster simply as victims. They are first responders and community mobilizers. And they remain long after the tide of outside assistance has receded,” said Dr. Jemilah Mahmood, Chief of the World Humanitarian Summit secretariat at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, adding that this constitutes the widest consultative process held so far in any region.

The 3-day consultations in Guatemala focused on humanitarian effectiveness, reducing vulnerability and managing risk, innovation, serving the needs of people in conflict, and displacement and violence.

For further information:
Visit redhum.org/es/miah and worldhumanitariansummit.org, or contact Breanna Ridsdel, WHS Strategic Communications and Advocacy, OCHA, ridsdel@un.org, Tel + 1 917 367 4826, Cell +1 917 783 9336
Manuel E Rodriguez, Public Information Assistant, OCHA ROLAC, rodriguez31@un.org, Tel + 502 595 64725, Cell +507 667 92212