UN-SPIDER Special Session during the "II Hemispheric Encounter and National Mechanisms and Networks for Risk Reduction".

Event Name: II Hemispheric Encounter and National Mechanisms and Networks for Risk Reduction
Date: 14-16 April, 2010
Location: Santa Marta, Colombia

The Encounter of Santa Marta is being convened and organized by our Government, through the Ministry of the Interior and Justice and its Directorate for Risk Management for Disaster Prevention and Relief (DGRPAD), the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States (GS/OAS), through its Department of Sustainable Development (OAS/DSD), and the Secretariat of the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), through its Regional Office for the Americas, UNISDR Americas.

The main objective of the Encounter is to foster the sharing and exchange of successful experiences and good practices in Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change Adaptation, as implemented by existing National Mechanisms and Networks in the hemisphere. The ultimate goal is to advance the establishment and strengthening of National Platforms for Disaster Risk Reduction under the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA).

UN-SPIDER Session Name: Special Session of the SPIDER Thematic Partnership LAC
Space-based Applications for Managing Risk Reduction and Emergency Response
in Latin America and the Caribbean
Date: 14 April, 2010 18.00-20.00
Location: Santa Marta Colombia

Space Agencies from Colombia, Argentina, Chile (tbc), and Ecuador (tbc); as well as representatives of Thermopylae Science and Technology will make presentations on their activities targeting the use of space-based information for disaster-risk management, followed by a discussion regarding the SPIDER Thematic Partnership LAC, with the aim of establishing a Plan of Action for this Partnership.

Objectives of the Special Session

The 2nd Hemispheric Encounter of Santa Marta offers the opportunity to bring together the space and disaster risk management communities. This special session is therefore conducted to:

1. Provide a forum for space agencies of various countries to provide examples of activities conducted in the areas of risk management and disaster response.
2. Discuss lessons learned with regard to access to, and use of space-based information, focusing on experiences from Haiti and Chile. In particular, the use of geo-viewers and the emergence of voluntary groups who can contribute to the generation of information on a virtual basis.
3. Discuss elements to develop a plan of action for the SPIDER Thematic Partnership for Latin America and the Caribbean with a focus on risk management to support the national platforms for disaster reduction.
4. Discuss the initiative presented at the Regional UN-SPIDER Workshop regarding the initiative to encourage space agencies in the region to support a regional training program for staff of the Ministries of Agriculture of the countries region that focus on the use of such information for the estimation of damage to crops due to droughts and other events in relation to food insecurity.
 

For more details about the UN-SPIDER special session please see attached documents (English, Spanish).

For agenda please visit: http://www.eird.org/encuentro-sta-marta/en/agenda.html