Declaration of Panama on Disaster Risk Reduction for the Education Sector in Latin America and the Caribbean The

delegates to the Latin American Conference on Regional Integration of Risk Reduction in the Education Sector, representing 31 governments of the region, meeting in the city of Panama, 12 to 14 October 2011, Inspired in: the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), the World Conference on Disaster Reduction (WCDR) in Kobe (2005) and the Hyogo Framework on increasing the resilience of nations and communities to disasters, for the period 2005-2015, the declaration of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014), the Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies, Chronic Crisis and Early Recovery of the Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE), the strategies to implement the Hemispheric Action Plan for Disaster Reduction of the Inter-American Program on Education, the conclusions of the Regional Meetings and Latin American Fora on Risk Management Education held in 2006, 2008 and 2010, the work carried out by the Andean Committee for Disaster Prevention and Response (CAPRADE), Central American Integration System (SICA), Coordination Center for the Prevention of Natural Disasters in Central America (CEPREDENAC), Coordinator for Education and Culture in Central America (CECC), Andean Community Disaster
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Prevention Commission Proclaim:

Support

Project

(PREDECAN),

Caribbean

Disaster

Emergency

Management Agency (CDEMA), Pan American Health Organization and European

that education is a fundamental human right of all individuals and we renew our commitment to respect, protect and develop it without discrimination. Recognize: that the right to education includes the safety of educational facilities and disaster risk prevention education, that frequently the right to education is significantly altered in disaster and crisis situations, thereby denying the students the right to the transforming effects of quality education. Verify: that recurring disasters and crisis affecting impoverished regions may multiply the effects of catastrophes, which reveals a devastating impact on school infrastructure, learning activities and, in general, over education opportunities for children, adolescents and youth.

Believe: that education has the potential to save lives by offering safe spaces for learning, as well as to develop content and practices for emergency prevention and response and

provide support, structure and hope to people, facilitating decision making for survival and caring for themselves and others, Declare: that disaster risk reduction constitutes an obligation of the States and therefore a priority for the Ministries and Secretariats of Education in Latin America and the Caribbean. Renew: our aspiration to integrate the education sector into institutional and community, local, national and regional risk and disaster reduction efforts, our conviction that it is possible to reverse the vulnerability to the growing impact of disasters and crises, through the construction of participatory cultures that would contribute to increase the levels of safety and resilience of education systems and communities, our determination to include concerted actions to protect children, in particular those still not of school age, favoring the inclusion of their parents and guardians in education policies and programs.

Considering: that in the last forty years disasters and chronic crisis have destroyed thousands of schools in Latin America and the Caribbean, especially in States less capable of facing their consequences, that the use of school as shelters during disasters has caused the suspension of education processes for long periods,
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that education should promote integrated formation processes to allow people to understand the origin of risk, as well as the characteristics and consequences of disasters, to enable them to participate in preparedness, response and recovery work, that the task of reducing disaster risk is part of a larger scope strategy linked to sustainable development and the eradication of poverty, that the culture of prevention finds optimum conditions to be strengthened in schools and contributes to developing the exercise of social rights and responsibilities, that there can be no delay in organizations, institutions and national, regional and international agencies reinforcing integrated and complementary disaster risk management actions in Latin America and the Caribbean, that de facto inequalities and discrimination decrease education opportunities and in disaster contexts are exacerbated for women, girls and adolescents, disabled persons, people with HIV/AIDS, ethnic minorities, indigenous communities and migrants, among others, that it is urgent to recover traditional knowledge, especially among farmer and indigenous communities, who have indispensable knowledge and skills for disaster response, that teachers and other school staff need information, training and support to respond to problems deriving from emergency situations. Based on the above, the Ministers of Education and governmental delegates from Latin America and the Caribbean, agree:

to incorporate into institutional plans and curriculum design, at all education levels and modes, the characterization of knowledge on natural events, vulnerability, risk assessment, preparedness, response, recovery, disaster prevention and monitoring, as a function of the vulnerability characteristics in each country, with the participation of the communities and local development organization, within the framework of national and local policies and plans on the topic, to make disaster risk prevention and mitigation education resources and opportunities accessible, affordable, adaptable and acceptable, based on the internal safety needs of schools, in the training requirements for students and teachers and in linking schools with the communities where they are located. For this purpose, we commit to adopt minimum standards and to develop and to apply quantitative and qualitative indicators and effective evaluation systems, to enable improving the quality of disaster risk management education, to design and implement accelerated teacher training and formation plans and programs on risk management and disaster management and recovery, using attendance and at a distance teaching models, to guarantee equal access of women and vulnerable groups to training and education opportunities and to incorporate the gender perspective in all policies, plans and processes related to disaster risk management decisions, to design and implement concrete plans to avoid emotional and physical and, in particular, sexual exploitation against girls and young women as a consequence of disasters, to take the necessary measures to avoid schools being used as shelters, warehouses or operations centers in disaster situations,

to promote the transfer of knowledge through association and cooperation between countries, for which we agree to document and disseminate best disaster risk management practices among education systems, to strengthen coordination and cooperation links with public institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean responsible for health, protection, water and sanitation, nutrition and shelters, so that the safety, security and physical, cognitive and psychological wellbeing of individuals can be guaranteed as a priority, to foster the establishment of formal structures in universities to provide coordinated support, with projection at community and national level, to the various components of the national disaster prevention and emergency response systems, to establish and enforce strict codes for incorporating the concept of disaster safety in the standard requirements for infrastructure projects, construction, repair, remodeling, retrofitting and assessment of school facilities, to promote funding of disaster risk management projects and actions in the education sector from national budgets. to begin school facility vulnerability assessment programs, at physical and operational levels, including natural and technological hazards, for the purpose of gradually improving and strengthening them. We appeal to the international community, UN System agencies and cooperation organizations: To increase economic cooperation for States committed to the right to education, which due to financial limitations may not be able to implement disaster risk management in the education sector, in the terms established by the Dakar Framework for Action. Education For All, adopted at the World Education Forum in 2000,
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to plan and channel resources through regional and bilateral agreements, in response to the principles established in this Declaration, as well as the objectives technically defined by the States, that will allow guaranteeing the sustainability of the actions they undertake, adapting them to the reality of the countries, to strengthen the coordination between donor countries, international agencies and organizations, favoring a better distribution of field work, in order to improve the impact of cooperation on education, to expand their collaboration with official national organizations and to intensify their participation in disaster risk management planning, implementation and assessment in education,

To execute these agreements, we propose: to constitute the Regional Thematic Platform for disaster risk management in the education sector, in accordance with the guidelines established by the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), in order to provide more coherent and effective implementation of the principles contained in this Declaration, as well as the combined regional strategies for disaster, risk and hazard prevention and response, to develop information systems that will enable quantification of education safety and infrastructure needs and that include disaster prevention and mitigation criteria and the requirements for the implementation of education policies to reduce vulnerability, to implement a regional model that includes the gender perspective and human rights, to promote integrated protection of vulnerable populations, as well as children and
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youths and their participation in the design of disaster risk prevention and management strategies in the education sector. We would like to express our deep appreciation to the Government of the Republic of de Panama and it particular to its Ministry of Education, as well as UNESCO, UNICEF, United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), International Committee of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent, Plan International, Save the Children Alliance, Inter-Agency Network of Education in Emergencies (INEE), United States Agency for International Developments Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) and the Refugee Education Trust (RET), for organizing this Conference and we urge them to undertake all necessary efforts to disseminate this Declaration. We approve this Declaration, committing to the agreements, on the 14th day of the month of October of 2011, in the city of Panama, Republic of Panama.