Decision 591
Andean Strategy for Disaster Prevention and
Relief
THE ANDEAN
COUNCIL OF MINISTERS OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS,
HAVING
REVIEWED: Articles 3, Second Item d), 16, 17
and 128 of the Cartagena Agreement, coded
through Decision 563, Article 6, Items f),
i) and o) of the Regulations of the Andean
Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs,
coded through Decision 407; and,
WHEREAS: The
Cartagena Agreement sets forth that to
promote the balanced and harmonic
development of the Member Countries under
conditions of equality, through integration
and economic and social cooperation, and to
pursue a persistent improvement of the
standard of living of the people of the
Subregion, actions will be applied, among
other measures, to ensure the preservation
and exploitation of natural resources and
the environment;
The Andean
Subregion, as a territory with similar
physical and geographical conditions, has
high risk characteristics when facing
phenomena such as floods, draughts,
landsliding, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic
activity, fires, epidemics, tropical storms
and adverse technological and anthropic
events;
In the
Subregion, such disasters have serious
effects on the population, causing damages
to their health and directly impacting on
the physical infrastructure of sectors such
as education, housing, human settlements,
roads, farm production and public utilities,
aspects with a high priority in the
community’s agenda;
Disaster
prevention and relief is an important factor
for the improvement of competitiveness
inasmuch as it allows the offering of a
greater sense of security for investments
and the functioning of basic infrastructure
for the production and sale of goods and
services, in case of any eventual disasters
which may occur;
Disasters are
a growing world problem, which has caused
the mobilization of the international
community to adopt policies to promote their
prevention and relief as a form of global
challenge. In this context, within the
framework of the United Nations General
Assembly in the year 2000, a Disaster Relief
International Strategy was adopted;
Such disasters
have been accentuated due to internal
factors, such as environmental damages,
which could be aggravated by global climate
changes. These factors have been covered as
a world challenge by the Framework
Convention of the United Nations on Climate
Changes, as well as by the World
Environmental Summit of Johannesburg;
To implement a
system for the cooperation and joint action
of the Member Countries of the Andean
Community, in an effort to prevent and
relieve natural and anthropic effects, the
Andean Committee for Disaster Prevention and
Relief (CAPRADE) was created, by means of
Decision 529;
CAPRADE
recommended the Andean Council of Ministers
of Foreign Affairs to adopt an Andean
Strategy for Disaster Prevention and Relief;
This Strategy
is the result of the hard work performed in
the Subregion, with the participation of 280
entities and over 450 national technicians,
in work meetings and specialized discussions,
in a process which has been carried out in
each Member Country by the entities
responsible for disaster prevention,
planning, civil defense and the Foreign
Affairs Ministries;
The support of
the United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
has been significant in the process of
consultation and preparation of the Strategy
in each Member Country through the Regional
Strategy for Disaster Reduction. Likewise,
other international organizations have
accompanied this process, presenting their
own developments on the matter, in CAPRADE
meetings;
Moreover, to
achieve the Strategy, a very important
factor has been the participation of the
Andean Development Corporation (CAF),
through the Andean Risk Prevention and
Mitigation Program, PREANDINO;
It is
recognized that subregional cooperation has
great potential for overcoming risks,
therefore, the national institutions and
policies for disaster prevention and relief
should be modernized and strengthened;
The Member
Countries see the adoption of common
external policies as a decisive mechanism of
influence on international decision
organizations and forums to make sure and
incorporate in their agendas the Subregion’s
interests on matters of prevention;
The General
Secretariat presented Proposal 132/Rev. 1,
for the consideration of the Andean Council
of Ministers of Foreign Affairs;
DECIDES:
Article 1.-
To approve the Andean Strategy for Disaster
Prevention and Relief contained in the
document enclosed with this Decision.
Article 2.-
The Andean Committee for Disaster Prevention
and Relief, CAPRADE, will work on the
execution of the Andean Strategy for
Disaster Prevention and Relief, in all areas
defined in the enclosed document, requiring
conceptual, methodological or technical
development, as well as the incorporation of
other aspects considered essential to
achieve the proposed objectives.
Article 3.-
To ask CAPRADE to prepare an Action Plan and
the Portfolio of Projects deriving from the
programs and subprograms identified, which
will ensure the execution of the Andean
Strategy for Disaster Prevention and Relief.
Article 4.-
To ask CAPRADE to report on an annual basis
to the Andean Council of Ministers of
Foreign Affairs, through the Andean
Community’s General Secretariat, on the
progress made on the execution of the Andean
Strategy for Disaster Prevention and Relief
and the development of the Action Plan and
of the Programs and Subprograms. The first
annual report will be submitted at the
meeting of the Andean Council of Ministers
of Foreign Affairs prior to the 16th
Regular Meeting of the Andean Presidential
Council.
Given in the
city of Quito, Republic of Ecuador, on July
10, 2004
