Disaster Risk Reduction in the Americas will get a needed boost, as well, thanks to a five- year, $4.5 million partnership between Florida International University and USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance.
The project will attempt to strengthen disaster risk reduction initiatives in Latin America and the Caribbean by forming communities of practice—groups of stakeholders mobilized to consider disaster risk reduction strategies and act as agents of change.
We must address the region’s vulnerabilities,” stated FlU Professor Richard Olson who, along with Professor Pablo Sarmiento, will lead the project. “If disaster response is playing defense, this project is a real chance to play offense for a change.”
The pair plan to travel to disaster-prone countries such as Chile, Colombia, Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, and El Salvador, where they’ll talk to scientists, engineers, economists, and civic leaders to assess physical and social weaknesses and provide guidance on how to address them before a disaster strikes.
Read more about the project in the USAID/OFDA newsletter.
Jolie Breeden is the lead editor and science communicator for Natural Hazards Center publications. She writes and edits for Research Counts; the Quick Response, Mitigation Matters, Public Health, and Weather Ready Research Award report series; as well as for special projects and publications. Breeden graduated summa cum laude from the University of Colorado Boulder with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.