On April 26-27, delegates from 24 Latin American and Caribbean governments joined representatives from regional and international organizations for the 4th Regional Meeting on Enhancing International Humanitarian Partnerships in Quito.
During the meeting, participants debated how to improve existing international assistance mechanisms and the development of new ones, such as a regional emergencies centre.
“These important new tools build on instruments and best practices that already exist,” said Catherine Bragg, Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, OCHA.
Among the new tools discussed was a detailed questionnaire, based on the IDRL Guidelines. designed to help governments to provide national information for a Regional Legal Compendium of Regulatory Instruments for the Management of International Humanitarian Assistance in Emergencies (RLC), based on the recommendations of the IDRL Guidelines.
Through their “Quito Declaration” the participating countries committed to responding to the RLC questionnaire and extended a call to the IFRC to continue collaborating with a task force constituted of the Governments of Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, sub-regional organisations of the region and OCHA, to provide technical support. In this context, a specific request was also made to the IFRC to facilitate a regional workshop to train assigned government focal points in completing the RLC.