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OAS and PADF Announce Donation of More than 100,000 Dollars to Communities in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua Affected by Rains

The Organization of American States (OAS), through its affiliate the Pan American Development Foundation (PADF), has announced a donation of more than 100,000 dollars to communities in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua that have been affected by recent heavy rains.

In a ceremony at OAS headquarters in Washington, DC, the Secretary General of the Organization and Honorary Chairman of the Board of Directors of PADF, José Miguel Insulza, said the tragedy experienced by various countries in Central America makes necessary "a new strategy and permanent policies" to confront natural disasters. "The climate has changed and this supposes a number of decisions to address the changes produced, but also changes in the design of streets or roads, the selection of places where to build; this requires an integral policy on the climate change that has taken place in Central America," he added.

In this sense, he asserted, "this is an important contribution from the Pan American Development Foundation, but not of the size necessary in this type of tragedy." What is important, he continued, "is the policy to be followed and the final recognition of something terrible, that we have a different situation and we must be prepared to face it."

The Permanent Representative of Guatemala to the OAS, Jorge Skinner-Klee, thanked the OAS and PADF for their support, asserting that “without you, tragedies would be longer and more dramatic." He supported the need to improve a permanent response to this type of calamities, adding that “if we don’t prepare we will continue to suffer the effects of a nature that is more and more critical to the interests of populations." “We must revisit the mechanisms we have at our disposal and adapt them to the response, which must be not only palliative but preventive," Ambassador Skinner-Klee said.

The Representative of Honduras to the Organization, Ambassador Jorge Ramón Hernández Alcerro, said that “here blissfully converge the initiative and interest shown by the Secretary General with the Executive Direction of John Sanbrailo and the friendship that for many years they have had with my country.” “This show of friendship and interest and solidarity comes to reaffirm the close ties that have existed with the Foundation and the OAS,” he added, “and the victims of this tragedy will be directly benefitted by the assistance."

The interim Representative of El Salvador, Ambassador Luis Menéndez-Castro, explained that his country “cannot but be moved by this show of solidarity, consistent at this moment in which our condition as the most vulnerable country in matters of natural disasters is ratified, and given that geography is destiny the impact we have suffered brings us closer to our Central American neighbors.”

The Alternate Representative of Nicaragua, Luis Alvarado, said that “the presentation of these donations is an effective response to the international call issued by the government of Nicaragua in response to this crisis in the context of a state of calamity and disaster.” “These resources donated by the Organization of American States through the PADF will contribute to alleviate the impact caused by this natural phenomenon, to the families that have lost their homes and that are currently displaced,” he added.

The Executive Director of PADF, John Sanbrailo, thanked corporative donors and said to beneficiary countries that “we are always with you in difficult times as in previous years, and we hope to continue working with donors to provide greater funds.” “We also hope to continue working with the different communities and civil society groups always in coordination with the different governments and emergency agencies,” he concluded.

The donation is made up of in-kind and cash contributions from Citibank, Chevron and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. that are already being channeled to community groups and civil society organizations in the affected regions to help the victims of rains, which have caused extensive flooding, mudslides and damage to infrastructure.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-922/11