Strengthening Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) in Central America through the establishment of the USAR Regional Academy
More than 12 million people are living on the pacific coast of central America, an area that shows high levels of seismic hazards. Despite this fact, the countries of the region have failed to develop efficient structures for the search and rescue of affected people during a disaster. Some initiatives have been developed in previous years, on an individual basis, by some countries of the region. However, so far only Costa Rica has been able to consolidate and maintain a light-level USAR team. The other countries have so far reached different levels of development, but all of them on a lower level than Costa Rica. The Central American countries have however participated individually in important international USAR events, and most of them have sent USAR teams to Haiti, to help rescuing victims after the earthquake of January 2010. But they are working without common standards and without a proper regional coordination. For this reason, it is imperative that the region initiates a process to accelerate the establishment of a regional USAR long-term strategy. This strategy is intended to clearly serve as a guideline for the region, the countries, the concerned institutions and the donors. This project will improve the regional and national capacities in rapid response, mainly for those disasters linked to earthquakes. The project will also foster the development and implementation of the USAR regional strategy.
| Country/region | Topic | Period | Budget |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Central America |
Climate change and environment
Disaster risk reduction DRR
|
01.05.2012
- 30.09.2015 |
CHF 1'450'000
|
- Research Organisation of South East
-
Sector according to the OECD Developement Assistance Commitiee categorisation DISASTER PREVENTION AND PREPAREDNESS
DISASTER PREVENTION AND PREPAREDNESS
Sub-Sector according to the OECD Developement Assistance Commitiee categorisation Disaster prevention and preparedness
Disaster prevention and preparedness
Cross-cutting topics The project takes account of gender equality as a cross-cutting theme.
The project supports partner organisation improvements as a priority
Type of support Official development assistance (ODA)
Type of collaboration Bilateral cooperation
Finance type Aid grant
Aid Type Project and programme contribution
Tied/untied aid Untied aid
Project number 7F08382
| Directorate/federal office responsible |
SDC |
| Credit area |
Humanitarian aid |
| Project partners |
Contract partner Foreign academic and research organisation |
| Budget | Current phase Swiss budget CHF 1'450'000 Swiss disbursement to date CHF 1'451'920 |
| Project phases |
Phase 1 01.05.2012 - 30.09.2015 (Completed) |