The Role of Municipalities in the Post 2015 Hyogo Framework for Action on Disaster Risk Reduction

13 January 2015, San Salvador, El Salvador – During the past 10 years disasters have continued to impact communities. Over 700 thousand people lost their lives, over 1.4 million were injured, and around 23 million were made homeless as a result of disasters. Overall, more than 1.5 billion people were affected by disasters in various ways. It is urgent and critical to anticipate, plan for and reduce disaster risk to protect communities. Local governments are essential partners for disaster risk reduction and the implementation of the Post 2015 Hyogo Framework for Action.

UNITAR’s Decentralized Cooperation Programme (DCP) together with the Municipality of Santa Tecla in El Salvador hosted the conference “The Role of Municipalities in the Post 2015 Hyogo Framework for Action on Disaster Risk Reduction”, bringing together around 150 local government officials and municipal councilmembers from El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico, Ecuador, Peru and the Dominican Republic to exchange best practices to plan for disasters and reduce risks.

The conference included discussions on how to integrate disaster risk reduction and Climate Change Adaptation Strategies into Urban Planning. Mr. Alfredo Alvarenga from the disaster risk reduction and climate change unit of the Municipality of Santa Tecla presented its experience and work for the past 10 years.

Dr. Pablo Ponce, Director of CIFAL Quito shared his experience on security and disaster risk management in Ecuador showcasing Ecuador’s coordinated security system (ECU911). This System represents a regional model for cross-sectoral collaboration to ensure citizen’s security and to facilitate timely information for enhanced response to disasters.

Mr. Manuel Inoa, Supervisor of concessions from the Ministry of Public Works and Communications (MOPC) from the Dominican Republic provided an insight to seismic vulnerability and risk reduction in key sectors such as roads, schools, hospitals and airport infrastructures.

Dr. Alex Camacho, Technical Secretary for Disabilities from the Vicepresidency of Ecuador gave a keynote address on inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in disaster risk reduction, the experience of Ecuador and challenges for the region.

Vice-president of the Republic of El Salvador His Excellency Mr. Oscar Ortiz In the framework of this conference, the Vicepresident of the Republic of El Salvador His Excellency Mr. Oscar Ortiz and Ambassador Luis Gallegos, Senior Fellow of UNITAR launched the new International Training Centre for Local Actors (CIFAL) El Salvador.

The Centre represents a beacon for collaboration between a Head of Government and UNITAR to provide training to government officials and leaders from Central America and Latin America in key areas such as disaster risk reduction, competitiveness, leadership and the Post-2015 development agenda.

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