Ecobreves – AMERICAS: Continent-wide Early Warning Plan

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GUATEMALA CITY, Jun 2 2003 (IPS) - Some 80 experts from Latin America and the Caribbean, Canada and the United States are meeting in Antigua, Guatemala, this week to draw up a hemispheric stance on early warning systems for natural disasters, and will present their resolution to an international meeting in October in Germany. “Under discussion are the warning systems based on applied public policies from Chile to Canada,” Wolfgang Stiebens, of the GTZ, which organized the meet and oversees technical cooperation from the German government, told Tierramérica.

“The aim is to have guidelines and testimonies that can be presented as a continental contribution to the Bonn conference,” he added.

The meeting is also sponsored by the German Foreign Ministry, United Nations, World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank.