Organization of American States Summits of the Americas
     
Follow-up and Implementation: Mandates
 

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DISASTER MANAGEMENT: Disaster Mitigation and Preparedness
MANDATES

  1. Leverage and develop inclusive digital tools in providing immediate response to climate events, disasters, and other emergencies, while strengthening resilience and decision-making based on empirical evidence. (Regional Agenda for Digital Transformation, IX Summit of the Americas, Los Angeles, 2022).

  1. Address, with solidarity and equity, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, in all its stages, through the aforementioned Action Plan, in accordance with national contexts, needs, and priorities with the aim of assessing and strengthening the capacity and resilience of health systems and health value chains at the national and regional levels, placing individuals at the core of health and resilience policies, the integration of the delivery of health services, including physical and mental health services, accounting for the amplified impact on and unique needs of members of groups that have been historically marginalized, discriminated against, and/or in vulnerable situations, as well as all women and girls, taking into account their diverse conditions and situations, in a manner consistent with national legislation and international law, promoting the implementation of universal health coverage for all, without discrimination, to further the wellbeing of current and future generations. (Action Plan on Health and Resilience in the Americas, IX Summit of the Americas, Los Angeles, 2022).

  1. Address the wider economic, social, and environmental dimensions of resilience, including challenges resulting from COVID-19 and constraints to sustainable post-pandemic recovery, including limited fiscal space; unsustainable debt-burdens, where applicable; lack of access to financing; challenges to food and nutrition security; and limited capacity to mitigate and adapt to the challenges of the climate crisis. (Action Plan on Health and Resilience in the Americas, IX Summit of the Americas, Los Angeles, 2022).

  1. Develop an evidence-based Action Plan that takes into account the sociocultural, economic, and structural challenges facing the Americas region and includes, among others, identifying measures for national and international coordination and cooperation, taking into account the global commitments assumed by the states with respect to health and resilience, with a view to:

    • d. Strengthening regional and global health security and public health emergency preparedness for the future in keeping with previously established commitments, and increase health research and development funding, promoting regional actions to build and strengthen national and regional development and sustainable production capacities for raw materials, pharmaceuticals, and medicines, including safe and effective vaccines, medical supplies, and other essential health technologies; improving affordability and access; and responding to regional health needs, as appropriate, particularly during health emergencies; (Action Plan on Health and Resilience in the Americas, IX Summit of the Americas, Los Angeles, 2022).

    • h. Strengthening the capacities of health authorities and infrastructure and national epidemiological surveillance systems, as appropriate, to prevent, prepare for, detect, and respond to infectious disease outbreaks and events with epidemic characteristics, through the fulfillment of the commitments under the International Health Regulations and other international instruments, and through international cooperation and technical assistance from international organizations such as the Pan American Health Organization; (Action Plan on Health and Resilience in the Americas, IX Summit of the Americas, Los Angeles, 2022).

  1. The responsible authorities commit to evaluate gaps and develop an evidence-based action plan, rooted, inter alia, in a One Health approach to prevent, rapidly detect, and respond to infectious disease outbreaks, especially those resulting from threats to health between human beings, animals, plants and the environment and vector-borne transmission, and recognizing the threat posed by antimicrobial resistance (AMR) to human, animal, plant and environmental health, food safety, and global food security, encourage the integration of measures to improve awareness and understanding of AMR through communication, education, and training and to strengthen the evidence and knowledge base through surveillance and research. (Action Plan on Health and Resilience in the Americas, IX Summit of the Americas, Los Angeles, 2022).

  1. To accelerate measures on climate change adaptation, taking into account different national circumstances, we intend to:

    • d. Redouble efforts to incorporate climate risks in plans, policies, operations, and sectoral budgets in order to generate resilience in strategic sectors and reduce vulnerability to climate change; (Our Sustainable Green Future, IX Summit of the Americas, Los Angeles, 2022).

  1. To strengthen and integrate regional cooperation networks to assist governments and for the building of resilience by means of using appropriate methodologies to:

    • a. Assess risk to mitigate and reduce the destructive impacts of disasters caused by earthquakes, droughts, hurricanes, storms, floods, and sea-level rise, among others;

    • c. Monitor in real time emergency disaster preparedness.(Our Sustainable Green Future, IX Summit of the Americas, Los Angeles, 2022).

  1. Encourage multilateral development banks and other key regional financing entities, including the World Bank, the IDB, the CDB, CAF, and CABEI, to consider identifying, developing, and advancing specific and distinct efforts to improve the mobilization of climate financing to increase the implementation of all forms of renewable energy, and reduce climate vulnerability in countries of the Americas, and to promote reporting on the implementation of these initiatives by the Joint Summit Working Group by the X Summit of the Americas.(Accelerating the Clean, Sustainable, Renewable, and Just  Energy Transition, IX Summit of the Americas, Los Angeles, 2022).

  1. Fostering transparency in the management of infrastructure and public resources allocated to ensure resilience to disaster, including the aforementioned infrastructure platform, in order to improve the response to emergencies and prevention, mitigation, recovery and reconstruction projects, and, to that end, promoting coordination through the Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Americas. (Lima Commitment. Peru, 2018)

  1. To prioritize the allocation of resources and the design of financial protection strategies, as appropriate, aimed at mitigating the social, economic, and environmental impact of disasters, with support from, inter alia, subregional, regional, and international financial institutions. (Disaster Risk Reduction and Management, Cartagena, 2012).

  1. To work with subregional, regional, and international financial institutions with the aim to strengthen financing mechanisms for adaptation to climate change, mitigation, recovery, rehabilitation, and reconstruction, with a view to reducing and managing disaster risk and strengthening the resilience of communities and nations that are vulnerable to or affected by disasters. (Disaster Risk Reduction and Management, Cartagena, 2012).

  1. We commit to improving regional cooperation and strengthening our national technical and institutional capacity for disaster reduction, prevention, preparedness and response, rehabilitation, resilience, risk reduction, impact mitigation, and evaluation. We will strengthen our monitoring, surveillance, communications and early warning systems and will encourage the sharing of information and research on disasters. In this regard, we recognise the importance of our active participation in the Pan American Institute of Geography and History, the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) and the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) as tools to increase access to information and facilitate coordinated action, as well as in the regional meetings on international mechanisms for humanitarian assistance and the Inter-American Network for Disaster Mitigation, as appropriate. (Declaration of Port of Spain, 2009).

  1. We will encourage the strengthening of domestic planning and zoning measures and building codes, as appropriate, in order to reduce risks, mitigate impact and enhance the resilience of future residential, commercial and industrial developments. We will consider measures, where feasible, to discourage developments in areas where risks cannot be reduced or impacts mitigated and to facilitate the protection or relocation of any areas of human settlement and sections of essential industrial and transport infrastructure that might be at risk. We will also promote education and training with the aim of increasing public awareness of natural disaster preparedness and of national plans for prevention, mitigation and post-disaster recovery. (Declaration of Port of Spain, 2009).

  1. We note with concern the increased intensity of natural and man-made disasters and their devastating impact on human lives, infrastructure, and economies in the Hemisphere. We call for action at the national, regional, and international levels to strengthen disaster management programs, including through increased capacity for disaster preparedness, development of early warning systems, risk mitigation and post-disaster recovery, and reconstruction and technical and financial assistance as appropriate, particularly for disaster-prone countries, to reduce the impact of disasters. We also support efforts under way to explore private and public sector involvement in comprehensive approaches to catastrophic risk insurance (Declaration of Mar del Plata, 2005).

  1. To substantially improve the capacity at the national, regional, and hemispheric levels for risk mitigation; to implement cost-effective and robust early warning systems, and to enhance disaster recovery and reconstruction capabilities in collaboration with relevant international and regional institutions. To explore with relevant international and regional institutions the coordinated development of effective public-private catastrophic risk insurance systems. (Plan of Action Mar del Plata, 2005).

  1. We commit to increase cooperation and strengthen the institutions responsible for coordinating and implementing measures to reduce the impact of natural disasters on people and their effect on national development plans, with emphasis on prevention, mitigation, emergency measures, and risk management at all levels (Declaration of Nuevo León, 2004).

  1. We commit to strengthening hemispheric cooperation and national capacities to develop a more integrated approach to the management of natural disasters. We will continue to implement policies that enhance our ability to prevent, mitigate and respond to the consequences of natural disasters. We agree to study measures to facilitate timely access to financial resources to address emergency needs (Declaration of Québec, 2001).

  1. Recognizing the need to develop, implement and sustain shared comprehensive disaster management strategies and programs to reduce the vulnerability of our populations and economies to natural and man made disasters and to maintain or quickly restore minimum levels of consumption, income and production at the household and community levels in the aftermath of disasters, including irregular population settlements; acknowledging in this regard the need to expand the community of stakeholders at the regional, national and local levels engaged in the formulation of early warning systems, the management of risk and response operations in the event of disasters and integrated sustainable development strategies: (Plan of Action Québec, 2001).

  1. Develop the capacity to forecast, prepare for and mitigate the potential impacts of natural and man made hazards ; promote vulnerability reduction; adopt and enforce better building codes and standards; ensure appropriate land use practices ; inventory and evaluate the vulnerability of critical facilities and infrastructure ; estimate climate change variability and sea level rise and assess their possible impacts; and in pursuit of the above, create the requisite legal framework and establish the cooperative mechanisms to access and share advances in science and technology and their application in the early warning, preparedness for and mitigation of these hazards;(Plan of Action Québec, 2001).

  1. Establish or strengthen, where appropriate, partnerships with all relevant actors, including the private sector, technical professional associations, regional institutions, civil society, educational and research institutions and other multilateral coordinating agencies such as the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), in the development and implementation of disaster management policies and programs at the national and community levels, and promote greater awareness and effective integration of these policies and programs among national policy makers, local authorities, communities and media, and promote the insurance and reinsurance of the social and economic infrastructure as well as the decentralization of information and decision-making; (Plan of Action Québec, 2001).

  1. Promote the development of telecommunications for humanitarian assistance; actively encourage greater use and interoperability of telecommunications and other technologies and information systems that allow the observation and monitoring of different natural phenomena; use early warning systems such as remote sensing imagery, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) based data necessary to address and prevent emergencies; promote the compatibility of these systems in the planning and response to emergency operations among governments, specialized agencies, relevant international organizations, and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), and, in this spirit, consider signing and ratifying, ratifying, or acceding to, as soon as possible and as the case may be, the Tampere Convention on the Provision of Telecommunication Resources for Disaster Mitigation and Relief Operations; (Plan of Action Québec, 2001).

  1. Establish information networks with the involvement of the Inter American Committee on Natural Disaster Reduction (IACNDR) and other relevant regional and international organizations to exchange scientific and technological knowledge and experiences; encourage further regional and subregional action to reduce risks and improve response to natural disasters; promote joint research and development technologies and contribute to strengthen coordination of national prevention and response agencies in natural disasters; to achieve this, draw on the work of ECLAC on the improvement, up dating and implementation of its damage assessment methodology and continue to promote natural disaster mitigation and risk reduction awareness and preparedness; (Plan of Action Québec, 2001).

  1. Consider the creation of a hemispheric system for prevention and mitigation of disasters that would include, among others, a specialized database containing the best information available on the characteristics, experiences, strengths and weaknesses of national and regional agencies responsible for disaster prevention and mitigation and provide a new framework for technical cooperation and research aimed at creating a hemispheric culture of prevention and solidarity; (Plan of Action Québec, 2001).

  1. Promote mechanisms that incorporate risk management and risk reduction methods in public and private development investments; (Plan of Action Québec, 2001).

  1. Convene within a year a hemispheric meeting on disaster preparedness and mitigation with the support of the IACNDR and the participation of a wide range of government entities, regional and MDBs, private entities, NGOs and the research, scientific and technical communities, to discuss and develop cooperative efforts to facilitate implementation of Summit mandates on disaster management;(Plan of Action Québec, 2001).

 

 

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