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OAS SECRETARY GENERAL EXPRESSES HIS SOLIDARITY WITH THE PEOPLE OF TABASCO AND CHIAPAS

*Insulza calls for increasing investments in vulnerability reduction

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, expressed his condolences for, and solidarity with, the government and people of Mexico for the floods of Tabasco and Chiapas in Mexico’s southeast. “The devastating floods that affected the lives of so many families in the Tabasco and Chiapas regions remind us all of the catastrophic effects of tropical storms and intense rainfalls,” Insulza said.

“As waters slowly rose over the states of Tabasco and Chiapas, nearly a million people were left homeless and crops were lost”, added Secretary General Insulza. “Although the combined effects of good preparation and evacuation plans saved many lives, the catastrophic scale of the event did not spare them from enormous economic losses. Some estimate the damage at nearly $5 billion. Other estimates place the economic costs even higher. The OAS is committed to work with the government of Mexico in its recovery and rebuilding efforts.”

The Inter-American System has already responded by establishing a task force with the participation of the OAS, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) to ensure its efforts are coordinated, together with the generous response of the international system. At the same time, the General Secretariat of the OAS, through its Department of Sustainable Development (DSD) and the Inter-American Network for Disaster Mitigation (INDM), continues to support efforts of their Member States to reduce the vulnerability of communities at risk.

In early December, a hemispheric meeting—including participation from Mexico—will address ways to improve the economic effectiveness of risk reduction actions. The meeting, on “Cost-Benefit Analysis: Making a case to invest on Vulnerability Reduction in the Americas” will be held in Bogotá, Colombia, on December 11 and 12, 2007 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Colombia. The main objective of the meeting is to advance practical, on-the-ground vulnerability reduction.

The INDM will also facilitate a Forum of Good Practices on “Risks and Extreme Hydrological Events: Flood Early Warning and Resilience Capacity,” to help communities in Mexico and elsewhere identify good practices in flood warning and risk reduction.

These efforts build on recent work that the OAS has supported in Mexico, including the implementation of an Early Warning System for Floods, and the application of Information and Communication Technologies to Disaster Mitigation throughout the Americas.

“There is a need for active participation of communities in the operation of Early Warning Systems, starting from the identification and evaluation of risk, observation and data collection, to warning communication, and contingency,” Insulza said. “Integrating forecasts generated through satellite and radar-based systems into the Local Warning Systems is also a must; especially in areas prompt to flash-floods, when time for alerts is very little.”

Reference: E-296/07