UN-SPIDER/AEM Regional LAC Expert Meeting, Mexico

As a way to continue promoting the use of space-based technologies in disaster risk reduction in Latin America and the Caribbean, the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, through its UN-SPIDER progamme, and the Mexican Space Agency (AEM) are joining forces to conduct the upcoming Regional Expert Meeting entitled Enhancing the use of Space based information in Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems.   The Regional Expert Meeting is conducted with the support of Mexico’s National Centre for Disaster Prevention (CENAPRED) and the Regional Centre for Space Science and Technology Education for Latin America and the Caribbean (CRECTEALC).  It will be held in the premises of CENAPRED from 11 to 13 July 2017 and will bring together experts from Latin America to address ways in which space-based technologies can be used to improve multi-hazard early warning systems in this region.

Furthermore, the Regional Expert Meeting will also contribute to the UNISPACE+50 process that the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) launched in the year 2015 to articulate a long-term vision for Space for the coming decades. Experts taking part in this Regional Expert Meeting will elaborate policy-relevant recommendations on the use of space technologies to contribute to the design of the SPACE 2030 Agenda, and to the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 taking into consideration the effects of climate change.

The specific objectives of this Regional Expert Meeting will be:

• To take stock of efforts conducted by institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean on the use of space-based information in single- and multi-hazard early warning systems;
• To provide continuity to the efforts conducted by UN-SPIDER and its partners to strengthen drought early warning systems in Central America and the Dominican Republic;
• To explore ways to enhance the use of this type of information in single- and multi-hazard early warning systems; particularly through the development and promotion of UN-SPIDER Recommended Practices in this specific area and through increased synergies among participants;
• To bridge the space and the early warning communities, with a particular focus on Latin America;
• Explore the use of enhanced networks of satellite systems.

Conducted on an annual basis, these UN-SPIDER Regional Expert Meetings bring together experts and practitioners from institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean to address ways in which space-based technologies can be implemented to contribute to disaster risk reduction efforts, as well as in emergency response situations. Previous Regional Expert Meetings have been conducted in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (2016); Bogota, Colombia (2015) and San Salvador, El Salvador (2014).   

For more information on the event and how to register, please contact Mr. Juan Carlos Villagran de Leon of UN-SPIDER at (juan-carlos.villagran [at] unoosa.org (juan-carlos.villagran(at)unoosa.org)) or Mr. Julio Cesar Castillo of AEM at castillo.julio [at] aem.gob.mx (castillo.julio(at)aem.gob.mx).

The video below about the event was created by CENAPRED.