Business preparation and resilience can be linked to humanitarian response and business recovery after a disaster. That’s why it’s essential to involve local businesses in disaster preparedness, response, and recovery, highlighting the benefits of the private sector playing a proactive role in humanitarian response.
“If we want to be coherent in the first response, we need to make efforts in preparedness. Every dollar spent on preparedness is much more profitable, efficient, and sustainable than bringing a plate of food to a family affected by a disaster. We will always help our people in a time of disaster, but it is much more efficient to work on the culture of preparedness beforehand.” - Juan Manuel Arribas, Hombro a Hombro, Peru
These were some of the key takeaways from experiences and lessons learned from Colombia, Mexico and Peru that were shared in the session “Businesses from preparedness to humanitarian response and recovery from disasters in Latin America and the Caribbean”. The speakers included Juan Manuel Arribas from Hombro a Hombro in Peru, Juan Pablo Robayo from UNICEF Colombia, and Elisa Trujillo from CENACED in Mexico, and the conversation was moderated by the Connecting Business initiative (CBi).
This conversation took place during the III ARISE Regional Forum in Bogotá, Colombia, that took place on 5-6 July this year. The Forum objectives ranged from the sharing of best practices to advocating for the role of the private sector in disaster risk reduction, and fostering greater collaboration and public-private partnerships in the sector. This was reflected in four strategic themes as they relate to disaster risk reduction:
- micro-, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs),
- infrastructure,
- insurance and investments, and
- community.
One session that stood out to us was on “Strengthening the private sector to make it sustainable and resilient” because it covered what was referred to as “ESG+R investments” – with ESG standing for “Environmental, Social, and Governance” and the R adding the element of Resilience.
In that context, John Karakatsianis from the Colombian Safety Council (CCS) reminded us of the importance of working together, focusing on our humanity rather than our differences: “There is only one humanity, and there is only one chance for the next generation to live. The barriers between the public and private sectors, and civil society, do not exist. This needs to be done together, as one humanity.”
Elisa Trujillo from CENACED was also a part of that exchange, and she commented on the importance of learning from our experiences to improve: “[After a disaster,] going back to normal would mean returning to risk. Reconstruction and recovery imply that the community is able to evolve.”
The III ARISE Regional Forum in Bogotá, Colombia, was a side event of the 56th edition of the Safety, Health, and Environment Congress organized by the Colombian Safety Council (CCS).
The Forum brought together 80 people in-person from 14 countries . CBi was represented by Iria González, CBi Regional Network Coordinator for Latin America and the Caribbean; Elisa Trujillo, General Director of CENACED and National Director of ARISE Mx (CBi Mexico); Juan Manuel Arribas, Executive Director of Hombro a Hombro (CBi Peru); and Petipha Lewis-Smith, Vice-Chair of CARICHAM.
The event gathered academia, government representatives, and the private sector in a way that strengthened the disaster management community as synergies came to light that will hopefully pave the way for fruitful collaborations. Many conversations explicitly connected the focus on mitigation and preparedness with the importance of developing a capacity for response and recovery, through practical examples. For CBi, this is essential as we see the disaster management spectrum – preparedness, response and recovery – as highly interconnected areas of work.
“I want to emphasize the importance of the private sector, government and international cooperation working together in a coordinated manner, to ensure that disaster preparedness and response is done in an organized way, is more efficient, and is effective in helping the affected population. I would also like to highlight the interagency work that has been done by ARISE UNDRR, CBi and UNICEF in the Latin American and Caribbean region, seeking common spaces.” – Tanya Chapuisat, Resident Coordinator a.i. and Representative of UNICEF Colombia