by Jaime Aparicio Otero

Presentation for the TCC II - Hemispheric Conference on Vulnerability Reduction to 
Natural Hazards: Population, Water and Information Networks
Tampa, Florida: June 12-14, 2002

Thanks to the University of South Florida, the Center for Dr. Mason, Mr. Stephen Bender, the Presidents and prime Ministers of the 34 democracies of the Americas have met four times in the last decade to define therir shared priorities and goals.  The last Summit of the Americas, held in April 2001 in Quebec City, Canada, underscored the "central role" the OAS plays in carrying out Summit decisions.  The leaders entrusted the OAS with a number of priority mandates.  The OAS has established the Secretariat for the Summit Process to carry out this expanded role. 

            The Summit process has become the compass by which the inte-American system sets its bearings.  The Quebec City Plan of Action provides direction for the OAS on issues as diverse as promoting gender equity, strengthening freedom of expression, mitigating natural disasters and improving the hemisphere's telecommunications infreestructure.  The OAS is also responsible for convening regular, hemisphere-wide ministerial meetings in such areas as education, justice, labor, commerce and sustainable development.  These meetings help governments strengthen their cooperation on a broad spectrum of issues and policies. 

            The complete Plan of Action is available on the Internet (www.summit-americas.org).  Here are some of the actions the OAS has undertaken since Quebec City to follow through with Summit mandates. 

            Summits and the OAS provides a political and strategical framework to coordinate in a very inclusive way among countries, subregions, civil Society, Universities, International Political and Financial institutions, Cooperation Agencies and different Government agencies. 

The Plan of Action emanating from the Summit of Quebec City in 2001 addressed the kind of collaboration required to meet this goal.  These include improving institutions, increasing financing and facilitating the transfer of technologies.   Ensuring transparency in decision-making by active involvement of all sectors of civil society – to reach the objectives outlined in Santa Cruz, Bolivia at the Specialized Summit of the Americas on Sustainable Development is also a necessary – not an optional – step in designing and implementing effective policies. Due to the damaging and costly impact of natural disasters on economic and social infrastructure, is vital that our nations strengthen the exchange of information on disaster reduction between the political, technical and business communities in order to reduce this threat to human life and physical infrastructure.

Natural hazard events such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, and landslides, depending on their size, intensity, and geographical location can cause destruction of economic and social infrastructure, including components essential to international trade. The resulting impacts, causing disasters in a member state, can have a great impact on commercial competitiveness and social well-being of the countries. Floods are the number one threat to transportation in Latin America, followed by landslides. Annually some 80 hurricanes form over tropical waters during the summer months and an average of 10 hurricanes threaten the West Indies and the East Coast of Central America and Mexico every year. The recovery from any natural disaster can take a significant amount of time and capital and trade can be greatly affected by them. 

It is important to analyze the degree of impact the these natural phenomena have on transportation and on trade. One of the major challenges that our countries are facing is in maintaining and constructing transportation infrastructure that physically connects with the rest of the countries. Without adequate roads or railroads, transportation systems will fail to move goods efficiently. NAFTA covers a combined area of 21 million square kilometers, MERCOSUR covers nearly 12 million square kilometers, the Andean Community has an area of more than 4.5 million square kilometers, CARICOM covers more than 450,000 square kilometers, and the CACM (Central American Common Market) covers a region of more than 420,000 square kilometers. The Pacific road corridor consists of approximately 1,700 kilometers from the border of Mexico to the border of Panama. These figures remind us that transportation and its infrastructure are basic components of any trade corridor. 

Trade between NAFTA members by 1999 grew by about 75% since the agreement came into force and the primary method of transportation is through trucking. Surface modes of transportation accounted for 90% of southbound trade and 85% of northbound trade in 1997. Mexico has a total of 3,223,857 kilometers of roads, of which approximately 108,803 kilometers are paved. Mexico also only had 26,622 kilometers of rail lines at the end of 1997.  Motor carriers moved 64.4% of trade value between United States and Mexico in 1996, while rail accounted for 16.4%. 

On the other hand, the demographics and geography of MERCOSUR highlight the importance of transport costs. It is calculated that 80% of all trade within MERCOSUR is carried over highways. This is why any natural disaster affecting this mode of transport will have a great impact on the overall trade of the region.  

We are aware of the importance of reducing the vulnerability of our countries with relation to the natural disasters through the appropriate use of sustainable development practices. As transportation projects multiply, and roads, rail, and canals are constructed, the environment will be affected.  Considering the limited resources of capital in our region, it is more profitable and sustainable to invest money in prevention than spending money in dealing with a disaster after the fact.  

Events such as the recent heavy rains in Central America that left at least 37 people dead, many injured and heavy damage to infrastructure reflect the importance of disasters and their prevention in our countries. The President of Nicaragua declared a  "state of disaster" in the Pacific coastal region of this country where there were more than 12,000 victims and material damages for more than 2 million dollars. In Nicaragua, there were damages in more than 27 road sections and 17 bridges, leaving many cities isolated. Also, in Santiago de Chile recent strong rains paralyzed all activities and left 9 people dead and more than 30,000 victims.[1]  

The heads of state have shown a high commitment to this issue. A clear example is the Plan of Action of the Quebec Summit, where the leaders of the hemisphere made a commitment to strengthen regional cooperation and national capacity of develop skills and materials to better manage natural disasters. Also, as the Secretary General of the OAS mentioned in his inaugural speech during the Third Regular Meeting of the Inter-American Committee on Sustainable Development  (CIDS III) that took place from February 11-12 of 2002 at the OAS in Washington, D.C.: "Ten years after the Earth Summit, we are still the only hemisphere to have convened a presidential level summit to specifically review Agenda 21 and set priorities among the hundreds of initiatives included in that document. However meetings must be followed by actions. We have most definitely made greater progress in building stronger institutional links than in securing necessary financing. Progress is also measurable in developing the tools for public involvement. We are only the second region in the world to have formally approved a set of principles for citizen involvement in decision-making." 

Information on vulnerability reduction must be produced, expanded, and disseminated to guarantee access by the different actors in the process of decision- making and to permit follow-up of the existing activities. The reduction of the vulnerability of the trade corridors to natural hazards is imperative since the economic development of the region depends on them. The recent weather events associated with the El Niño and La Niña phenomena have led to great loses. Due to the scarcity of  available resources, it is necessary to identify the criteria that will reduce the levels of vulnerability in the region. More than 80% of national budgets for the road transportation sector are spent on the repair and maintenance of roads damaged by flooding, earthquakes, mudslides and volcanic eruptions. The annual impact of these natural hazards amounts to tens of millions of dollars in direct losses, as well as indirect losses including increased transportation costs.  

The IACNDR (Inter-American Committee on Natural Disasters) is the main forum of the OAS that is in charge of providing the Permanent Council of government representatives with "strategic thoughts, recommendations or initiatives related with natural disasters, and advice on the financing methods of the same…".  Other multilateral organisms like the OCHA (Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) and the Inter-American Agency for Cooperation and Development are key for exchanging experiences and promoting more regional and community actions that are destined to reduce the risks and improve the level of response. It is also important to establish information networks building on initiatives undertaken by countries and regions to date. Also, the work done by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) should be taken into account, in relation to the improvement, updating and implementation of their methodology in the evaluation of damages. 

The topic of natural disasters is not just a technical problem.  It also involves the commitment of political actors, international organizations and different Government agencies under the OAS coordination.  The expansion of commerce is a priority for the countries of the OAS in the context of democracy building, free markets, and sustainable economic development in order to facilitate the creation of new products, jobs, investments and exports. The Unit for Sustainable Development and Environment (USDE) through its Natural Hazards Project division and the Summit of the Americas Secretariat are clear examples of the great commitment the OAS and its General Secretariat have towards initiatives to reduce the vulnerability to natural hazards and mitigate the effects of disasters.

 Thank you for your attention.