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OAS ASSISTANT SECRETARY GENERAL CALLS ON MEMBER STATES TO SEE NATURAL DISASTERS FROM A MORE “HOLISTIC AND COMPREHENSIVE PERSPECTIVE”

The Assistant Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Ambassador Albert Ramdin, participated today at a briefing session organized by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) on the inter-American Disaster Response Mechanisms, during which he affirmed that “natural disasters, from all perspectives, are not a technical issue, they are a development issue because all the different components of life in society are affected” and recommended to “focus on natural disaster from a more holistic, integrated and comprehensive perspective”.

Talking about the mechanisms available in the framework of the inter-American system to respond to natural disasters, Ambassador Ramdin briefly explained the Inter-American Committee on Natural Disaster Reduction (IACNDR), the Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Inter-American Convention to Facilitate Disaster Assistance, and the Inter-American Emergency Aid Fund (FONDEM).

“Established in 1999, the IACNDR is the principal policy making body within the inter-American system to strategize and to recommend on initiatives that should be taken in this area. This is a very action oriented tool that speaks not only about strategic policy making, but also about financing, short term relief, and immediate response mechanisms,” he affirmed.

Ambassador Ramdin took the opportunity to urge OAS member states to seek the political attention from their respective legislative bodies to support the ratification of the Inter-American Convention to Facilitate Disaster Assistance. “This political instrument, which has been ratified only by three countries (Panamá, Peru and Uruguay), should be recognized by all the states in the Americas” asserted Ramdin, and added that “it is critically important to find the political support at the hemispheric-level to give the leverage needed for this Convention to acquire funding at the global level.”

In this context, the Assistant Secretary General also informed briefing participants that during the OAS General Assembly held in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, last June, member states approved a Resolution to create a Working Group on Natural Disaster Risk Reduction. “The objective of the Working Group will focus on the assessment of existing legal and cooperation instruments on disaster management mechanisms towards the preparation of the Inter-American Action Plan” he reported.

During the session, in which representatives from six key regional institution participated, Ambassador Ramdin stressed the cooperative work that the OAS and PAHO are doing on the issue of natural disasters and commended PAHO’s leadership in this area.

Reference: E-239/09