The project will be done with the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

This Tuesday, Maria Carreño, Prevention and Emergency Attention’s Deputy Director, and Laura Villegas, the Unit for the Victims’ International Cooperation Group’s Coordinator, attended the project launch: “Mejorar la preparacion y respuesta ante emergencias en Colombia” (To improve emergencies readiness and response in Colombia).

Supported by international cooperation, this initiative aims to strengthen the capacities of local authorities, counterparts, communities, and organizations to prepare and respond faced with emergencies, all this considering the convergence of humanitarian emergencies that take place in the country.

Likewise, it seeks to improve cooperation between local humanitarian actors to add to the Government's response efforts and ease the humanitarian space development at a decentralized level.

This project will be developed in the departments of Choco, Meta, Nariño, Norte de Santander, Valle del Cauca, Guainia, Vaupes, Vichada, Putumayo, Quindio, Cauca, Cordoba, Antioquia.

Maria Carreño said this initiative will improve response against different humanitarian emergencies that happen in Colombia, "both of a natural nature or due to natural disasters, as well as those related to the armed conflict."

Among the main actions the Unit and the OCHA defined for this project are: “Support to areas regularly affected by conflicts and disasters with little response capacity to improve their ability for emergencies preparation and response. Some specific action lines will be developed with the Emergencies Prevention and Assistance Sub-Directorate (some in coordination with the UNGRD), within which technical assistance is contemplated for contingency plans update; the Methodological Guide booklet print; care routes translated to indigenous language; and training sessions development by OCHA for local emergency teams.”

Another action deals with analysis improvement based on evidence and the management capacity of territorial information, focused on planning in terms of preparation, response, additional modules development and tools in the Unit’s Emergencies Prevention and Assistance Sub-Directorate’s Information System, which will allow strengthening actions aimed at prevention, reporting, and Immediate Humanitarian Aid delivery linked to contingency plans and coordination spaces through an App.

(End/DFM/COG/RAM)