Together We Stand

[ 118 ] capacity in disaster risk management. The sector’s contri- butions include spreading the civil protection culture and emergency care, promoting the development of actions such as safe-hospitals and safe-schools programmes, and fostering a community resilience culture with gender equity. But how do we provide humanitarian assistance in Mexico? While it is true that humanitarian action aims to alleviate disaster victims’ needs, ensure livelihoods, protect fundamental rights and defend dignity, the Mexican Government believes that effective assistance should include actions that minimize damages and risks and that prepare society to face disasters. Despite the efforts made by each nation to boost preven- tion and disaster risk reduction policies, a reactive trend persists. Therefore, Mexico is directing special attention to increasing the allocation of human resources and capital targets to preventive processes. Progress has been made in the effective implementation of the human rights approach on disaster risk reduction and management, ensuring that the population has equitable access to training, informa- tion, prevention, participation and humanitarian aid, and taking into account gender, childhood, adolescence, ethnic groups, the elderly, disabled and migrants. Another important aspect is the encouragement of social participation to create resilient communities, developing capac- ities to withstand the adverse effects of disasters and recover productive, economic and social activities in the shortest possi- ble time. That is the reason for the persistent development of public policies that strengthen disaster risk management and the continuity of operations, with the aim of promoting its incorporation in local and regional development. In recent years, tropical cyclones have significantly affected Mexico. For instance, hurricane Ingrid and tropi- cal storm Manuel in 2013 simultaneously damaged more than half of the national territory. To counter these effects in September 2013, 32 emergency declarations for 17 states were issued, and supplies and services were provided to an affected population of 886,393 people. The cost of support amounted to Mex$1.500 billion. Mexico emphasizes its commitment to adopt and promote measures that positively impact climate change and support global trends on reducing greenhouse gases. One of the country’s main objectives is to reduce emissions by 30 per cent by 2020, compared to the current baseline, and to achieve a 50 per cent reduction of emissions by 2050, compared to the emissions in 2000. Image: National Coordination for Civil Protection of Mexico The Mexican army is a key element of SINAPROC, in the rehabilitation phase of disaster management T ogether W e S tand