Photo by Paula Uribe, © RET International

Article by Paula Uribe, Regional Technical Manager of RET in Latin America and the Caribbean

PANAMA CITY, PANAMA – Within the framework of the Regional Forum on the Central American Policy for Integrated Disaster Risk Management (PCGIR), a panel of experts on humanitarian coordination mechanisms was held, led by OCHA, which brought together regional actors to analyze how to strengthen inter-institutional coordination in the context of complex crises.

In this space, Magnolia Santamaría, Regional Director of Programs for Latin America and the Caribbean at RET, highlighted the need to move from reactive models to anticipatory coordination approaches based on territorial risk analysis, which allow improving preparedness and reducing differentiated impacts on populations in vulnerable situations.

From RET’s experience in countries such as Panama, Costa Rica, Mexico and the Dominican Republic, it was stressed that coordination is most effective when municipalities, community organizations and local actors participate from the risk preparation and analysis phase, and not only during emergency response. Territorializing coordination allows specific needs to be anticipated, local risk governance to be strengthened, and access to humanitarian assistance to be improved.

Likewise, the importance of having territorialized information systems, clearly defined institutional roles and structured community participation mechanisms was highlighted, key elements to strengthen timely decision-making in emergency contexts and guarantee people-centered responses.

RET also shared good practices derived from participatory processes of territorial risk planning, which have made it possible to strengthen inclusive local capacities and articulate community plans with municipal planning, contributing to improving preparedness, response and recovery from disasters.

RET’s participation in this panel reaffirms its commitment to promote more comprehensive, anticipatory and territorialized humanitarian coordination models, which contribute to reducing structural vulnerabilities and strengthening community resilience in contexts marked by the convergence of climate, social and human mobility risks.