Experts and policy makers proved in Bogotá that investing in reduction of vulnerability in the Americas is a better option

The event co-sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Disaster Prevention and Attention Direction (DPAD) of the Ministry of the Interior and Justice, both of Colombia, and the Department of Sustainable Development of the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States (DSD/OAS), through its Inter-American Network for Disaster Mitigation (INDM), which was held in Bogotá, Colombia, on December 11 and 12, 2007, at the Palacio San Carlos, headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Colombia was celebrated around the preceding mandates of the resolutions from the General Assembly of the OAS, through its Inter-American Network for Disaster Mitigation (INDM) and the Hemispheric Security Commission (HSC). The event was particularly a direct answer to the agreements of the (INDN) and the resolutions AG/RES 2314 (XXXVII-O/07) and AG/RES 2184 (XXXVI-O/06) for which it calls for the DSD/OAS to support in “improving the economic cost-benefit analysis in the reduction and prevention of risks on natural disasters”.

The main objective of the meeting was to explore the strategies to highlight and promote the benefits of risk reduction investment, instead of investing on response, attention, rehabilitation and reconstruction.  Based on case studies and practical experiences, the meeting sought to analyze and prove that “investing in vulnerability reduction in the Americas is a better option”, getting into the effective cost of investing in the social and economic vulnerability reduction against the economic costs associated with disasters and their impacts in the economic growth of the region.  

The event counted with 70 participants, including representatives and experts of public entities and private businesses – including insurance and reinsurance companies, international organizations of cooperation, nongovernmental organizations, development banks, intergovernmental organizations, and international development agencies of cooperation.  The participants included experts and policy makers from all sectors involving the theme of risk: from protection organizations to civil defense, to ministries and offices of planification, public work, financial and economic, passing through ministries of health and social security institutes, ministries of education, ministries of the environment and natural resources, and committees on prevention and attention before emergencies.  The entire hemisphere was represented, from Argentina up to Canada, with equal representation from all regions: South America, Andean Community, Central America, the Caribbean and North America. More...