Afectados por sequía representan más de una cuarta parte de personas perjudicadas por desastres climáticos a nivel mundial
07 Jul 2021

Drought-affected people represent more than a quarter of those affected by climate disasters worldwide

In Honduras and the rest of the Central American region, extreme hydrometeorological phenomena such as droughts or floods caused by storms, tropical depressions or hurricanes are increasingly recurrent.

Drought is a slow-tract phenomenon that is increasingly recurrent and has great impacts on Food and Nutritional Security, as well as on the availability of water resources and ecosystems in the Central American Dry Corridor. EM DAT recorded more than one billion people affected by droughts in the period 1995 - 2015, that's more than a quarter of all people affected by all types of weather-related disasters worldwide. It is urgent and important for Central American countries to strengthen Early Warning Systems in the event of drought, for preventive actions in the territory of the Central American Dry Corridor.

The national workshop was held on June 7, 8 and 9 by the Permanent Contingency Commission of the Republic of Honduras (COPECO) in coordination with the Foundation for Cooperation and Community Development of El Salvador (CORDES) and the Center for Human Development (CDH) and was attended by representatives of the government of Honduras through the Secretariat of Agriculture and Livestock and the rest of Central America participated virtually through a digital platform.

The presentation and consultation of regional studies of Early Warning Systems (EWS) in the event of droughtwas carried out within the framework of the program: "Food Security for Populations Affected by Climate Change in Central America", financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund (ASB - Germany). This program is currently developing local actions in Guatemala and Honduras, in addition to carrying out regional processes aimed at strengthening the capacities of national and regional actors in Central America.

This national workshop was developed taking as a reference, based on the criteria defined within the Protocol of the National Early Warning System for Food and Nutritional Security to provide Drought Assistance in the Dry Corridor of Honduras 2019 and operational planning and progress within the framework of the program: The expected results with the development of this activity were:

  1. Disseminate the studies on EWS Drought and Risk Management carried out within the framework of the program (Regional experiences on EWS Drought, legal regulations and sustainability proposals on EWS, progress of public policies, strategies, plans and actions in Drought Risk Management).
  2. Obtain from SINAGER institutions information and contributions for the "Design of drought EWS in the municipality of El Triunfo, Choluteca", as well as the "Elaboration of regional guidelines for the harmonization of drought EWS protocols" and strengthen national technical and regulatory criteria that guide the steps and stages necessary for the linkage of local EWS to national drought early warning systems and networks, incorporating recommendations to ensure their sustainability.