Preventive Resettlement of Populations at Risk of Disaster - GFDRR

4.3 Disaster Risk Management
Model
The overall CONRED’s strategy for disaster risk
reduction focuses on operations and the programs,
such as the National Response Plan, the Inter-Agency
Liaison System, the Emergency Operations Center
(COE), the Information Management System in the
Event of Disasters (Sistema de manejo de la información
en caso de desastre, SISMICEDE), the National
Operations Manual and the Integrated Emergency
Management System (Sistema Integrado de Manejo de
EMERGENCIA, SIME).
The strategy also incorporates risk management in
Strategic Land use Planning (Planificación Estratégica
Territorial, PET) prepared by the Secretariat for
Planning of the Office of the President (Secretaría
de Planificación y Programación de la Presidencia,
SEGEPLAN), and strengthens local coordination
in high-risk areas through CEPREDENAC and the
CONRED Executive Secretariat (Secretaría Ejecutiva
de la CONRED, SECONRED).
The adoption of this comprehensive strategy was a radical
shift from a model that focused on response and
reconstruction to one where prevention plays a key
role. The new model also supersedes the civil defense
approach by establishing responsibilities in all governmental
entities, according to their particular functions,
to attack the root causes of risk and act across sectors.
The integration of risk prevention in Guatemala’s strategic
land-use planning and investment programs as part
of public administration strategy achieves two major
objectives: First, it generates an institutional commitment
to develop risk-reduction strategies and second, it
channels major public investment funds toward efforts
to overcome the historical and structural causes of risk.
However, the implementation of this strategy is often
limited by financial constraints and, despite efforts to
change it, the emergency response approach still predominates.
This is why, when events and catastrophes
arise, it is necessary to declare a state of emergency and
Congress has to approve transfers and generate funds
by cutting the budgets of the various ministries and secretariats.
B. Case Study: Panabaj and
Tz’anchaj – Reconstruction
with Transformation
1. Impacts of Tropical Storm Stan
As a result of the national disaster wrought by Tropical
Storm Stan on October 5, 2005, the Government declared
a state of public emergency. The total economic
impact was estimated at US$983 million (3.4 percent of
2004 GDP) of which US$400 million involved damage
and US$583 million outright losses. Most (59 percent)
of the losses were sustained by low-income segments
of the population and small-scale producers, with little
ability to recover what they lost.
The storm left 17,000 houses either totally destroyed or
declared unfit for human habitation. In terms of damage
to houses, it was the worst natural disaster the country
had experienced, exacerbating the shortage of 1.2 million
homes.
2. Key Challenges
The storm’s impact posed an enormous national challenge
with regard to the reconstruction of economic and
social infrastructure (roads, bridges, service stations,
etc.) and the creation of 80 new urban centers.
In addition, a degree of inter-agency coordination was
required that was unprecedented. Also, it was necessary
to restore trust in the State and institutions, expand
community participation, and take the social and
cultural characteristics of the population into account.
Timely, appropriate, effective and transparent engagement
was also needed to undo the damage of previous
experiences of disillusionment and the lack of credible
institutions.
3. Reconstruction with
Transformation
To meet the challenges, the President called for “national
reconstruction” in November 2005 and presented the
broad outlines of the Reconstruction with Transformation
model, which adopted a more inclusive stance and promised
comprehensive measures within a framework of development
and sustainability. The main features were:
90 Preventive Resettlement of Populations at Risk of Disaster: Experiences from Latin America