ECLAC organizes disaster impact assessment workshop in El Salvador

The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) organized a workshop in El Salvador on its methodology for assessing the socioeconomic and environmental impact of disasters.

The workshop was co-sponsored by the General Secretariat of the Central American Integration System (SICA) with the support of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Nutrition Institute of Central America and Panama (INCAP) and the Secretariat of the Central American Agricultural and Livestock Council (SCAC/CORECA-IICA). The Italian overseas aid agency provided the funding for the event, which attracted over 50 representatives of central and local governments and civil society organizations from throughout the Isthmus.

Participants received an updated copy of ECLAC’s handbook for disaster impact assessment (LC/MEX/L.519) as well as a compilation of recent research papers on the subject. Two case studies were developed, one on water and sanitation and the other on agriculture and the Central American drought of 2001, so that students could carry out practical assessment exercises. A new module on disaster reduction projects was especially well received, as was the introduction of risk management into the general project cycle.

Certificates of participation were distributed at the closing ceremony, which was attended by the Secretary General of SICA, the Resident Coordinator of the UN System in El Salvador, the Italian Ambassador, and the Secretary General and Board of Directors of the Central American Coordination Center for Natural Disaster Prevention (CEPREDENAC).

For more information please contact
Ricardo Zapata
ECLAC Mexico
rzapata@un.org.mx