Port of Spain, May 29, 2000

In accordance with the results of the mandate of the First Meeting of the Executive Board of the Special Committee on Natural Disasters, the First Meeting of the Technical Group of the Special Committee was held on May 29, 2000, at the ACS Secretariat in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. The Meeting was presided over by Mrs. Elda Vásquez de Godoy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of El Salvador. Representing the ACS Secretariat were Mr. Mario Estrada and Mr. Roger Carrington. Mrs. Doheny Roosberg from the National Disaster Coordination Office of the Netherlands Antilles served as Rapporteur. Also participating were Mr. Clemens Ravelli from the Netherlands Antilles, in addition to delegations from CDERA, PAHO and CEPREDENAC.

Mr. Mario Estrada welcomed the participants and presented the introductory comments. During this presentation he pointed out that the Meeting of the Technical Group was convened for the purpose of deliberating on the questionnaire that is to be drafted, as proposed by Mr. Clemens Ravelli at the meeting of the Executive Board of the Special Committee on Natural Disasters. The objective of this is to evaluate the shortcomings, strengths and cooperation projects of Member States, regarding prevention, preparation, mitigation and response measures. Three lists/questionnaires were presented for the consideration of the Group: one by the Netherlands Antilles, one by CDERA and another by the ACS.

Mrs. Elda Vásquez de Godoy also welcomed those present and declared the session open.

The agenda put forward by the Secretariat was accepted.

The work session commenced with the explanation on the content of the three analysed questionnaires. The Chairwoman opened the floor to the delegation from the Netherlands Antilles for it to explain the questionnaire that has been circulated. Mr. Clemens Ravelli explained that the questionnaire served to give a general overview of the shortcomings of countries, as well as disaster prevention. Therefore, the methodology to be followed subsequent to the evaluation of the questionnaires could materialize. One problem foreseen by Mr. Ravelli is the diversity of the countries that constitute the ACS, and this would make the evaluation more complicated. It was suggested that there be a follow up via telephone, in addition to personal visits to countries, and by so doing, the result of the evaluation would be more precise. Mr. Ravelli also indicated that the questionnaire is the product of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The representative from the ACS Secretariat put forward the possibility of problems arising with respect to copyright, but it was made clear that FEMA does not work with reserved rights. Except for a minor omission in the questionnaire of the Netherlands Antilles, it was decided that this questionnaire would be used, while the necessary adjustments are made concerning the section on health and mitigation. Similarly, the information related to technical/environmental disasters will be excluded.

The meeting decided that the best way to proceed would be to hire a consultant to draft the questionnaire. The Terms of Reference (TOR) will be drawn up by the ACS Secretariat.

The objective of the TOR is to allow the consultant to:

1. design a questionnaire;

2. design the strategy for compiling information;

3. design a strategy for analysing information.

The consultant will evaluate several disaster programs so as to identify common cooperation priorities by:

designing a document made up of the questionnaire which would include prevention, preparation, mitigation and response in the following areas:

- Risks

- Inter-State/sub-regional mechanisms

- Gaps/priorities

- Projects being executed

The consultant will also take into consideration Article 4 of the Agreement among Member and Associate Member States of the Association of Caribbean States for Regional Cooperation on Natural Disasters, at the moment the questionnaire is drafted. It was decided that with respect to the abovementioned points, a paragraph should be included on budgetary legislation and institution.

The following topics must also be included:

Early warning

Recovery

Planning sector

Public education

Links with development projects

Regional/state levels

The methodology for this process is as follows:

CEPREDENAC, CDERA and the Netherlands Antilles suggested that the consultants be selected by the ACS Secretariat. It was decided that within a period of 15 days, the ACS Secretariat will issue a letter to the abovementioned organizations requesting said assistance. During this period, the Secretariat will also prepare the TOR for the consultant, which must be ready not later than June 15, 2000. The consultant must therefore be hired from July 1, 2000. The first draft of the questionnaire must be distributed for comments by July 21. The final draft must be circulated to countries by August 10, in two ways: one through liaison officials and the other through CDERA, CEPREDENAC and the Netherlands Antilles who will remit it to the focal points. Responses must be received not later than September 10, 2000. The consultant must complete the analysis of the information, and the results as well as recommendations must be presented to the Technical Group of the Special Committee on Natural Disasters, which must meet for this purpose in Port of Spain, on October 2, 2000. Once the results have been analysed, the Group will give feedback to the consultant, who will include the observations in a timely fashion, for the Meeting of the Special Committee which will be held in San Salvador, El Salvador, on October 19-20, 2000.

With respect to the matter concerning Projects to be presented to the Special Fund, except in the case of the Project related to updating Construction Codes, it was deemed appropriate that its priority be reviewed after the results of the questionnaire are obtained. In this respect, the ACS Director responsible for the coordination of the Special Fund, Mr. Ricardo Vargas Taylor, informed the meeting that the project related to updating Construction Codes already has an offer for financing from the Italian Cooperation, through the Inter-American Development Bank, and its negotiation is taking place well in advance by the Special Fund.

After having covered all matters on the agenda and with no further questions and/or comments, the Chairwoman closed the session.