President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, addressing the 6th Regional Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction in the Americas

By Richard Waddington

CARTEGENA, 20 June, 2018 – Colombia, one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to natural hazards, has made great progress in implementing disaster risk reduction policies, although much remains to be done, President Juan Manuel Santos said today.

Addressing the official opening of the three-day Vl Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Americas, President Santos said that this progress could be seen in the country’s rapid response to the threat posed by landslides around the Ituango hydroelectric dam project that forced tens of thousands to flee their homes.

The necessary protocols were put into practice and people evacuated as soon as the first warnings arrived. “Fortunately, we have not had a single fatality. Our priority is to save lives and we will not rest until the emergency is overcome,” he said.

“Today, we can state that the country is much more prepared to answer any emergency it faces. We have good systems of coordination,” he added.

But it was not always so. President Santos told delegates that when he took office in 2010, the country immediately had to face the worst ever La Niña. Heavy rains from the weather phenomenon triggered flash floods, landslides and long-term flooding of river plains and caused billions of dollars of damage.

Colombia has since taken a number of measures to manage disaster risk and mitigate the impact of disasters. In 2012, it established a national system for disaster risk management and introduced a number of policies. “Today, we are far better organized; we have financing mechanisms and planning tools,” he said.

The government set out to reduce the vulnerability of communities most exposed to natural disasters through resilience-building programmes. Such programmes save money as well as lives.