The Latin American and Caribbean Parliament (Parlatino) became this Friday the first parliament to approve a declaration in support of the Treaty on the Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters. This treaty, currently being negotiated at the United Nations, represents a historic opportunity to establish a legal framework that guides states on how to protect the population from catastrophes. The regional director of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) for the Americas, American Loyce Pace, was responsible for addressing the Assembly to present the benefits and necessity of this treaty before the vote. 'From the International Red Cross, we have accompanied this process with the certainty that this treaty represents a historic opportunity to transform the way we protect people,' Pace affirmed to the parliamentarians gathered during the 39th Ordinary Assembly of Parlatino in Panama City. The regional director explained that this treaty seeks to ensure that 'the protection of people in disaster situations does not depend on chance, but on clear commitments, solid norms, and coordinated actions,' making a 'clear call to the region's parliaments to review their legislation, identify gaps, and prepare from now on.' 'The door for this process towards a treaty for the protection of people in disaster situations to remain at the international level and to be incorporated into domestic law, public policies, and the real lives of people,' stressed Pace. After the speech and interventions from parliamentarians from Chile or Venezuela, the declaration in support of the treaty was voted on and was approved unanimously. The document recalls that in Latin America and the Caribbean, the second most disaster-prone region in the world, more than 1,500 disasters have been recorded so far this century, affecting more than 190 million people, predominantly with hydrometeorological phenomena linked to climate change. Therefore, and considering that 'disasters result from the interaction between physical events and human management, aggravated by the vulnerability and lack of preparedness of communities, as well as development models and, in general, unsustainable environmental practices,' Parlatino declared its 'decisive support for the negotiations.' It is expected that the treaty will finally be approved in January 2027 at a conference in the Philippines, a 'historic' achievement after more than two decades of attempts to finalize the document and following the mandate given in December 2024 by the United Nations General Assembly to negotiate it among more than 190 countries. 'This declaration is forward-looking; it is the first parliament in the world to adopt a declaration of commitment, not only to the process of negotiating the treaty and its adoption in January '27, but above all, it makes a call for parliaments to already review their laws and start implementing them,' explained to EFE the regional head of humanitarian diplomacy for IFRC, Liliana López. Furthermore, she emphasized, 'it calls for collaboration so that all those laws that exist in countries and that sometimes operate in a fragmented manner have the historic opportunity to be incorporated into a single legislation and that disaster response can be seen in all its phases with a focus on people, not on material and economic losses.' 'Today you will not just approve a declaration. You will open a door.'
