UNESCO, in cooperation with the Permanent Commission of the South Pacific (CPPS), the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO and national tsunami warning systems for Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru is preparing the document "Standardized Operating Procedures for Communication before the Tsunami Warnings in the South Pacific "in order to strengthen the efficient and effective interconnection between the four warning systems that integrate the Southeast Pacific region. The material is being prepared under the Seventh Action Plan for Disaster Preparedness Programme (DIPECHO) for South America of the Directorate General for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection of the European Commission (DG-ECHO), which runs through the UNESCO project "Strengthening the Regional Tsunami Early Warning system, preparations in Colombia, Chile, Ecuador and Peru." The initiative seeks to strengthen national early warning systems for tsunamis, to build a regional system through shared strategies and standardized procedures at regional, national and local. The document is built thanks to the contribution of the national members of warning systems and were reviewed and validated in the Regional Workshop on standard operating procedures for Strengthening the Regional Early Warning System in the Pacific Southeast, to be held in Lima, Peru, from 25 and 27 September 2012. The event is expected to have the active participation of oceanographic institutes, seismic services, offices and risk management education ministries in Colombia, Chile, Ecuador and Peru, as well as representatives of local governments that are implementing plans and local protocols for tsunami warnings in vulnerable locations in such countries. For Hector Soldi, Secretary General of the Permanent Commission of the South Pacific (CPPS) "the document to be adopted at this workshop will be the result of regional cooperation existing in the preparation of the threat of tsunamis in Southeast Pacific countries, and the support provided by the European Commission and UNESCO to this region." The joint adoption of a standard operating procedure at the regional level will be a historical milestone, as no similar experience in any other region of the world parallels the Pacific Southeast´s threat and vulnerability to the occurrence of tsunamis. To implement and support this initiative, upon completion of the DIPECHO project of UNESCO, the CPPS will provide support and coordinate the administration of the information sharing platform of the Regional Tsunami Early Warning System, to facilitate the interconnection of national alert systems in the region.

no event notes available