THE ANDEAN COUNCIL OF FOREIGN MINISTERS

HAVING SEEN: Article one of the Cartagena Agreement, Article Six f) and i) of the Rules and Regulations of the Andean Council of Foreign Ministers and Article Thirty-seven of the Rules and Regulations of the Andean Community Commission;

WHEREAS: As a territorial space with similar physical and geographic conditions, the Andean subregion presents high risk natural characteristics with consequences that are frequently disastrous and earthquakes, floods, droughts, tsunamis, volcanic activity and the like that are associated with the climatic changes and man’s activities are an always-present threat;

In view of the rise in disasters that have caused serious social and economic losses in recent decades, the Member Countries have been forced to build up their domestic capacities in order to reduce their vulnerability to those disasters;

The Eleventh Andean Presidential Council, meeting in Cartagena de Indias in 1999, agreed to charge the bodies and institutions of the Andean Integration System, particularly the Andean Development Corporation, with making arrangements to obtain the necessary cooperation for developing and strengthening provisions and institutions that are oriented toward preventing risks in each country and executing projects of priority to the region. This gave rise to the creation of the Regional Andean Risk Prevention and Mitigation Program (PREANDINO);

The Civil Defense and Planning institutions of the Andean Countries met in Quito, Ecuador (February 2000), Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia (August and November 2001) and Bogotá, Colombia (January 2002), where they agreed to propose the formation of an Andean Committee for Disaster Prevention and Care;

The Member Countries adopted the International Disaster Reduction Strategy during the United Nations General Assembly in 2000 (54/219);

It is necessary to set up an institutional coordination and cooperation mechanism for systematically organizing the cooperation and joint efforts of the Member Countries to prevent and deal with the effects of disasters of natural and anthropic origin;

DECIDES:

Article 1.- To create the Andean Committee for Disaster Prevention and Care (CAPRADE), whose aim and sphere of competence will be to help reduce the risk and the impact of any natural and anthropic disasters that could occur in the Andean subregion by coordinating and promoting policies, strategies and plans and promoting activities in the areas of disaster prevention, mitigation, preparation and care, rehabilitation and reconstruction, as well as through mutual cooperation and assistance and the exchange of relevant experiences.

Article 2.- The functions of the Andean Committee for Disaster Prevention and Care (CAPRADE) are as follows:

a) To give its opinion to the Andean Council of Foreign Ministers and to the General Secretariat, at their request or on its own initiative, with regard to any programs or activities of the Andean integration process that are related to its aim, sphere of competence and functions;

b) To combine and coordinate efforts to incorporate the notion of risk prevention and management into development planning;

c) To propose the adoption of common policies and strategies on matters within its sphere of competence;

d) To promote compliance with and the harmonization of international agreements on the subject by the Member Countries;

e) To promote cooperation among the Member Countries in resolving problems that have to do with its aim and sphere of competence;

f) To encourage research and the exchange of know-how among the Member Countries and with other regions and to link up scientific and technological bodies in joint projects;

g) To promote and coordinate joint efforts to secure bilateral and multilateral cooperation;

h) To promote compliance with and the harmonization of international agreements on natural disasters, in keeping with the various existing multilateral and regional initiatives;

i) To promote the strengthening of the capacities of Member Countries and the establishment of common mechanisms and systems for monitoring and evaluating measures within its sphere of competence, as well as the results attained;

j) To promote the active participation of the population in disaster prevention, mitigation and care;

k) To report periodically to the bodies of the Andean Integration System on the course of its activities;

l) To perform all other functions entrusted to it by the Andean Council of Foreign Ministers and to deal with all requests made of it by the General Secretariat.

m) To coordinate its efforts with those of other disaster prevention and care organizations and networks within the region.

Article 3.- In order to comply with the stipulations of the previous article, the Committee shall adopt its Internal Regulations, which shall establish the mechanisms for its organization and operation.

Article 4.- The Andean Committee for Disaster Prevention and Care (CAPRADE) shall be made up of the competent national authorities in that area, including the representatives of Civil Defense, Planning Ministries or institutions that perform that function, and the Ministries of Foreign Relations. Officials from other institutions may be incorporated, as well, in keeping with the countries’ individual institutional features. The delegations may also have as many advisors as the countries decide upon.

Article 5.- CAPRADE’s activities shall be financed from the international cooperation funds that are obtained and those that the respective countries commit themselves to contribute.

Article 6.- The Andean Community General Secretariat shall function as the Committee Secretariat.

Signed in the city of Lima, Peru on the seventh of July of two thousand and two.