International Day for Disaster Reduction: Preparedness saves lives, prevention avoids losses

Enabling communities to take measures to prevent a natural phenomenon from becoming a disaster is the best humanitarian investment. It is in our mandate, and in over 15 years of existence, ECHO’s disaster preparedness (DIPECHO) has done just that. In Latin America and the Caribbean, DIPECHO has worked since 1996 to reduce risk conditions in the event of disasters and contribute to increase people’s, communities’ and countries’ resilience in the region. More than 150 million Euros have been devoted to this aim in the region, reaching millions of Latin Americans with the involvement and participation of communities, emergency response agencies and authorities. What key lessons have emerged from this wealth of experiences? Watch this video to find out more and read the report.