Government signs cooperation Agreement with International Humanitarian Aid in Chile

Friday, September 9, 2011

This morning, Deputy Foreign Minister Fernando Schmidt signed along with Rodrigo Ubilla, Undersecretary of the Interior, Vicente Nuñez, National Director of ONEMI and Gary Stahl, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Chile, the Memorandum of Understanding of the Humanitarian Aid Network in Chile, which establishes the coordination protocols with the international community in case of disasters.

During the ceremony Undersecretary Fernando Schmidt said that “the main purpose of this Memorandum will be to facilitate and socialize policies, strategies and actions in disaster preparedness and response, coordinating major international humanitarian actors in the country with the Foreign Ministry and ONEMI. This will allow to receive a timely, active coordinated and efficient humanitarian action, in order to alleviate the suffering that any natural disaster entails.”

This lack of coordination was detected as one of the great shortcomings after the earthquake of February 27, 2010, within the framework of the Diagnosis of Disaster Risk Reduction in Chile, carried out by the United Nations Inter-Agency Mission in October 2010.

The Undersecretary of the Interior, Rodrigo Ubilla, argued that “these protocols that involve the Foreign, Interior and Public Security Ministries, ONEMI, the international community and society as a whole, are important because in crisis situations there are disorders that affect the community involved in the emergency and this kind of tool helps us to avoid those situations.”

In case of a disaster, which requires the establishment of an Emergency Operations Committee, national COE, the Memorandum states that the International Humanitarian Network will contact the director of the National Emergency Office, or a designee, for an adequate exchange of information and identification of potential humanitarian needs when the situation warrants.

For its part, ONEMI’s National Director Vicente Nuñez praised the agreement and noted that “the signing of this agreement will allow implementing a common response to disasters and coordinating protocols between members of the International Humanitarian Network and the Government of Chile, which means a major breakthrough for our country in terms of risk reduction.”

NETWORK MEMBERS

The  Network is composed of  agencies, funds and programs of the United Nations System; the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies; the European Union Delegation in Chile and the Department of Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection of the European Commission (ECHO); the Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance for Latin America and the Caribbean (OFDA); World Vision. Other NGOs with international recognition that can mobilize from abroad in case of disasters (Caritas, CARE, Save the Children, Oxfam, etc.); bilateral and multilateral cooperation organizations, which in the face of a disaster may contribute with their humanitarian work and relevant coordinating role in the country: Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), OAS and World Bank.