UNISDR - Regional office for the Americas

PARLATINO was created in Peru in 1964, and according to its statutes "it is a regional, permanent and unicameral body composed of national the parliaments of Latin America, democratically elected by popular suffrage", currently composed of 23 Latin American states: 7 from Central America, 5 from the Caribbean and 11 from South America.

Based on five priorities ranging from ensuring that DRR is a regional, national and local priority to reducing the underlying risk factors by building a culture of prevention and resilience at all levels, this protocol aims to strengthen technical and institutional capacity to manage regulatory risk; promote knowledge exchange between entities involved inearly warning programmes;manage risk reduction and emergency response; and develop mechanisms for the active participation of the general population in DRR, among other key objectives.

The approval of the document coincides with the Cooperation Agreement reached by PARLATINO, represented by its President, Mr.Elias A. Castillo, and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), headed by Ms. Margareta Wahlström, recently signed in Panama City – which will strengthen cooperation, mutual promotion and the development for joint activities in support of initiatives to formulate and implement policies, plans, programmes, projects and specific activities in disaster risk management, linking entities and parliaments of Latin America and the Caribbean among themselves and/or with similar entities in other regions of the world.

The Protocol is based on resilience, sustainability and humanitarian principles related to sustainable development that are fundamental for the protection of the population, their property and the environment from natural hazards,also guiding the authorities in key aspects of DRR such as early warning management, the implementation and enforcement of laws and regulations for land management, urban planning and strategies for poverty reduction, as well as other measures for the prevention, mitigation and preparedness in the face of disaster and climate change adaptation.

The approval of the document was achieved through the joint work of the Commissions of Environment and Tourism, and of Economic, Social Debt and Regional Development of PARLATINO; and is the result of an initiative by the Honourable parliamentariansTimoteoZambrano and Jose Ramon Sanchez, members of the sub-commission on Disaster and Risk Prevention and Care, with the advice and co-writing of Dr. Jesus OllarvesIrazábal.

This Protocol will be promoted through parliaments, jointly with national executives, in order to create the Regional Unit for Disaster Risk Management, which will integrate and coordinate policies, strategies and frameworks developed by various existing subregional intergovernmental bodies for DRR in the region. The Regional Unit plans to meet at least twice a year and hold special meetings whenever required by a disaster.