Salvadoran Ministry and PDC sign Letter of Intent

In order to strengthen capabilities related to disaster preparedness, response, and recovery in El Salvador, Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARN) and Pacific Disaster Center (PDC) signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) on July 3 in San Salvador.

The LOI outlines a partnership to address one of the main pillars of the Ministry, namely to reduce the vulnerability of the population when faced with natural hazard risks. Both MARN and PDC recognize the need to develop and implement methods, tools, and information resources to support decision-making processes by planners, policy makers, and disaster response staff in the area of disaster risk reduction. MARN and PDC have worked in different aspects of these thematic areas and recognize the potential for leveraging their combined efforts.

In particular, the collaboration focuses on providing access to subject matter experts, data sharing activities, and exchanging disaster management and disaster risk reduction best practices through facilitated knowledge exchanges, workshops and training.

Pohl and Bosse discuss the partnership during a tour of MARN’s Hazards Observatory.

The LOI was signed by Minister of Environment and Natural Resources (MARN) Lina Pohl and PDC Disaster Management Specialist Todd Bosse, who was representing PDC Director of Disaster Services Dr. Erin Hughey. This follows several technical exchanges with MARN’s experts by the PDC Disaster Services Team to exchange experiences, information, and methodologies relevant to the analysis and assessment of risks.

PDC has already had a long history of working with MARN. Since February 2014, PDC has been working closely with stakeholders in El Salvador on the National Disaster Preparedness Baseline Assessment (NDPBA) project underway to identify both disaster preparedness of and the country’s capabilities for effectively responding to and recovering from disasters. MARN has been a critical supporting stakeholder in the NDPBA, and PDC is looking forward to utilizing the LOI to continue the partnership for a successful completion of the NDPBA and other activities.

Learn more:
• View the NDPBA project flyer in english or spanish.
• Read more about NDPBA efforts in El Salvador,
• Learn more about a recent a disaster exercise (FA-HUM 14) in El Salvador