Ambassador Gordon Shirley, Chair of CEPCIDI and Co-Chair of the Joint Consultative Organ,
Ambassador Esteban Tomic, Chair of the Committee on Hemispheric Security and Co-Chair of the Joint Consultative Organ,
Distinguished Ambassadors and Representatives,
General Tomas Pena y Lillo, Vice-Chair, Inter-American Defense Board
Ladies and Gentlemen:

I am pleased to address this meeting of the Joint Consultative Organ on Natural Disaster Reduction and Risk Management, and to congratulate Ambassadors Shirley and Tomic for their leadership in steering the work of the JCO in such an effective manner, with a constant view to the General Assembly mandates set out in AG/RES. 2114 adopted last year at the 35th General Assembly of the OAS in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The importance of preventing natural disasters cannot be too forcefully stated. At the Eleventh Lecture of the OAS Lecture Series, Jeffrey Sachs, renowned development economist, listed natural upheavals as one of three major factors impeding the hemisphere’s economic development and growth. The April forecast of the TSR (Tropical Storm Risk) predicts a higher than normal Atlantic hurricane activity in 2006. Based on current and projected climate signals, Atlantic basin and US land-falling hurricane activity for 2006 are forecasted to be about 50% above the 1990-2005 norm. There is approximately an 80% chance that activity will be in the top one-third of years historically.

While hurricanes such as Mitch, Ivan and Katrina are constant reminders of the devastation wreaked by tropical storms, we are prone to multiple threats--all with equally devastating effects on lives and economies. These include earthquakes, floods, mudslides, volcanoes and drought conditions. Furthermore, our vulnerability is not limited to localized events. The Associated Press reported in March that experts at the international water forum in Mexico City posited that droughts, floods, changing rain patterns and rising sea levels are threatening development in the world's poorest countries and worry that overall warming will melt glaciers and the polar ice caps, raising sea levels enough to damage many low-lying islands and cities. In addition, a warmer climate could affect weather patterns and agriculture, and even allow some diseases to expand into new areas.

The earlier reference to the General Assembly session held in Fort Lauderdale is a reminder that both the 2006 regular session of the General Assembly and the 2006 hurricane season will be upon us in a few short weeks and underscores the urgency of the matters under consideration. The agendas of the meetings of the JCO are roadmaps of the progress made in response to its mandates under AG/RES 2114. Worthy of specific mention is the proposed amendment of the Statutes of the Inter-American Emergency Aid Fund (FONDEM) and of the Inter-American Committee for Natural Disaster Reduction (IACNDR) to create a single, permanent inter-American Committee on natural and other disasters that will also respond to the Inter-American Convention to Facilitate Disaster Assistance. The creation of this committee will consolidate and focus the efforts of the OAS related to matters of natural and other disasters. Of equal importance, it recognizes the roles of and provides a mechanism for coordinating with other agencies. In this connection, I am pleased to note the inclusion of the Inter-American Defense Board (IADB), the Inter-American Commission on Women (CIM) and the Pan American Development Foundation (PADF) as members of the new Committee.

Yet another benefit of establishing the permanent committee is precisely that it creates the mechanism for continuing the work of implementing and achieving the other General Assembly mandates set out in AG/RES. 2114 which include advancing the implementation of the recommendations set out in the Inter-American Strategic Plan for Policy on Vulnerability Reduction, Risk Management and Disaster Response (IASP) aimed at reducing the cost of the impact of natural hazard events.

Presentations at meetings of the JCO by the Inter-American Development Bank, the White Helmets Project of Argentina, the World Bank, the Pan American Development Foundation, and the International Code Council among others, clearly indicate that much is being done and offered by the international community on schemes for recovery assistance and for risk management. It goes without saying, of course, that the structure and conditions to access available resources must be such that poorer countries are able to participate in and benefit from these mechanisms.

On the other hand, it must also be recognized that there is equal responsibility at the national level to proactively seek the adoption of measures to prevent and mitigate the disastrous effects of natural upheavals. General Assembly resolution AG/RES. 2114 actively encourages the preparation and sharing of individual country disaster preparedness, response and mitigation plans in order to facilitate more effective support from the international community. In this regard, it is also important not to overlook the existence and the critical role of sub-regional organizations in providing technical assistance in disaster response and in the development of the capacity for risk management aimed at mitigating the impact of natural hazard events. Such organizations include the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Relief Agency (CDERA); the Central American Center for the Prevention of Natural Disasters (CEPRENDENAC) and the Andean Committee for Disaster Prevention and Assistance (CAPRADE).


In conclusion, permit me to reiterate what I stated at the Seminar on disasters and emergencies organized by the Inter-American Defense College, as to the role of the OAS with respect to natural disaster reduction, in three main areas:

1. To provide the political context in the Inter-American system within which to raise the policy profile of and attention to natural disasters. As an example, the OAS will host the first Inter-American Ministerial Meeting on Sustainable Development in Bolivia in October of this year. The topic of natural disasters is one of the main agenda items of that meeting.
2. To foster and to support collaboration among different organizations involved in different aspects of natural disasters. I see substantial opportunities with regard to the World Bank’s recent work to launch a regional insurance fund for the Caribbean, a possible regional initiative with the IDB in risk reduction, and the recent support from CIDA to the OAS in the areas of hazard mapping, governance-related capacity building in the adoption and enforcement of building codes and standards, and support for inter-agency collaboration; and
3. To continue working at the project and policy level and the national and regional levels. In this regard, it is worth quoting the statement by one of the Working Groups of the Committee on Hemispheric Security, made in the Chair's report in 2005: “we must … take into account the commonness of the phenomenon of natural disasters and effectively and efficiently apply the scarce financial resources of our membership; collaborate with the programs and efforts already in place and underway at the national and sub-regional level; and harmonize our institutional capacity and expertise.”

In closing, let me say once again how pleased I am to join you here today and to give assurances of the commitment of the OAS Secretariat to work with each of the Member States in collaboration with our partners in the inter-American system in this vital area.

Thank you.