Evaluation of the Capacity-Building Programme for Natural Disaster Reduction (CBNDR) in Central America and the Caribbean
October 2006 - The evaluation examined the project strategy, the project results and impact at the institutional, local, national and regional levels.
It focused on the relevance of the programme, the effectiveness of the activities, the replicability of the programme’s practical results in other countries and regions, and the extent to which the programme enhanced UNESCO’s contribution to the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR).
Following the International Conference on Natural Disaster Reduction (Yokohama, 1994), the International Institute for Aerospace Survey, Netherlands (ITC) set up a working group for launching the “Coordination Programme for Disaster Reduction through Sustainable Development (CPDRSD)”. ITC undertook a mission to Costa Rica in November 1995 with the objective of formulating a first regional action programme for Central America. Extensive discussions on the content of the programme followed between UNESCO and various partners in Europe and Central America. Agreement was reached on the scientific content in 1998. Later the Netherlands Ministry of Education, Culture and Sciences (MOCW) agreed to cooperate with UNESCO in launching the Capacity-Building Programme for Natural Disaster Reduction including the first Regional Action Programme in Central America addressing natural disaster reduction through a funds-in-trust arrangement for NLG 2,000,000 for the period 1999-2002.
UNESCO’s role was that of overall coordinator, with ITC hosting the Secretariat, and the Centro de Prevención de Desastres Naturales en América Central (CEPREDENAC, Panama) being the regional coordinator for Central America. The project objectives were: (i) the integration of technical and scientific knowledge, methods and tools of natural hazard assessment with existing knowledge in the region into practical methodologies of natural hazard and risk zoning applicable in local, national and regional planning for development; and (ii) to develop cooperation and networking at the local, national and regional levels by creating a common ground for understanding between earth scientists, engineers and decision-makers at various levels leading to procedures which can contribute to decrease in the vulnerability of societies faced with natural phenomena such as landslides, flooding, earthquakes and volcanic
eruptions.
Download a copy of the evaluation report in portable document format (pdf /1.3 MB).
Image : © UNESCO/ A. Clayson - Cotopaxi volcano, Ecuador
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