The future Ibero-American Network for Civil Protection and Disaster Risk Reduction It is beginning to take shape as one of the most ambitious emergency cooperation projects within the Ibero-American sphere. Driven decisively by Spain and various regional organizations, the initiative aims to become a stable platform for better coordinating disaster prevention, response, and recovery.
In a context in which natural and man-made disasters They are becoming more frequent and intenseLatin American countries have chosen to organize themselves into a network to share capabilities, lessons learned, and resources. The creation of this common structure aims to achieve a qualitative leap in risk management, preventing each state from having to face events alone that often exceed its national resources.
A permanent platform for Ibero-American cooperation
The Network is born with the vocation to be a comprehensive and permanent mechanism for coordination between national civil protection systems. The proposal is promoted by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), the Foundation for the Internationalization of Public Administrations (FIAP), the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF), and the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB), with strong political support from Spain.
As has been emphasized by Secretary for Ibero-American Cooperation, Lorena LariosCooperation in this area is considered fundamental for building joint solutions to risks affecting all 22 countries in the region. Sharing experiences, results, and tools is seen as key to ensuring the Network has a direct impact on the security of Ibero-American populations.
The design of the initiative includes a clear governance structurecapable of facilitating the mobilization of resources and the exchange of specialized information. The intention is to avoid the dispersion of efforts and to establish a stable channel that allows react quickly to large-scale emergencies, strengthening coordination between countries when it is most needed.
The Network also aspires to connect with other international platforms and frameworks related to climate change, water management or disaster risk reduction, so that their actions are complementary and do not overlap with existing initiatives at the regional or subregional level.
In this context, organizations such as CEPREDENAC, Mercosur, ECLAC, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, and the European Directorate-General for Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations participate as advisory actors and technical alliescontributing their experience to guide the new structure.
Spain, leading the provisional presidency and technical secretariat
A high-level international meeting held in Antigua (Guatemala) It has been decided that the Directorate General of Civil Protection and Emergencies of the Spanish Ministry of the Interior will assume both the presidency and the technical secretariat of the Network on a provisional basis. This designation, which will remain in place until its definitive establishment at the end of the year, places Spain at the heart of the constitution process.
La Director General of Civil Protection and Emergencies, Virginia BarconesShe will be responsible for leading and representing this new intergovernmental body on a temporary basis. Her appointment is seen as recognition of the role played by Spain in emergency management and international cooperation in disaster risk reduction.
During the meeting, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of the Interior, Susana CrisóstomoHe emphasized that the initiative's main strength lies in the unity and sustained cooperation among countries. In his view, Spain's assumption of the rotating presidency presents an opportunity to reaffirm the country's commitment to combating the climate emergency and improving citizen security through multilateral collaboration.
Barcones, for her part, emphasized the importance of leading what she described as a demanding challenge and a great responsibility for Spain. In his words, the Network will allow tangible benefits to be offered to all the States involved at a time when disasters are increasingly impacting the daily lives of millions of people.
The Spanish delegation to Guatemala, headed by Crisóstomo and Barcones, has actively participated in the negotiation of the basic elements of the Network, from the political approach to the most operational aspects of its future implementation.
Governance structure and working groups
One of the most significant agreements from the Antigua meeting was the creation of two specialized working groupsThese are designed to outline the institutional architecture and strategic direction of the new mechanism. The objective is to present, within a relatively short timeframe, robust proposals that can be politically validated by the participating states.
The first of these teams will focus on the Network governanceIts functions include drafting the statutes, defining the governance model, and establishing a representative and equal-balanced committee to ensure equilibrium among the different countries. This committee will be responsible for ensuring that decision-making adheres to criteria of transparency, efficiency, and shared responsibility.
The second group will address the strategic guidelines or alignmentsIts mission will be to establish the Network's priorities and key thematic areas, always adhering to principles of efficiency and complementarity. This aims to avoid duplication with existing frameworks in the region and focus efforts on addressing real gaps in coordination and mutual support.
Both groups will carry out much of their work using online tools, maintaining constant communication with the provisional presidency and technical secretariat held by Spain. This approach allows all countries to participate, regardless of distance, guaranteeing a participatory development process of the founding documents.
Once the draft statutes and lines of action have been written, it is expected that these texts will be refined and agreed upon in specific meetings, with the purpose of reaching the constitutive phase with a broad degree of agreement between the parties.
Meetings in Montevideo and first constituent session in Madrid
The agreed work schedule stipulates that the next in-person technical meetings These sessions will be held in Montevideo, Uruguay. They will serve as a platform for in-depth discussion of the proposals developed remotely and for finalizing the key elements of the Network's structure and operation.
Based on that exchange, the following will be drafted initial documents that will lay the legal foundations of the new body, including its guiding principles, its organizational structure and the financing mechanisms that will allow its operation in the medium and long term.
These works will lead to a Action plan which must be submitted for approval at the Network's first constitutive meeting, scheduled to take place in Madrid. This session will be held within the framework of the 30th Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State, scheduled for November 4 and 5, thus providing clear political support for the project.
The intention is that, before the end of the year, the Network will be formally established, with its decision-making bodies defined, its priority areas approved, and an initial schedule of activities to begin operating in practice. In this way, the aim is to move quickly from agreements on paper to reality. implementation of concrete actions in the ground.
In parallel, it is expected that countries will align their national civil protection and risk management strategies with the commitments arising from this new Ibero-American framework, thus reinforcing the coherence of public policies in the region.
Participation of Ibero-American countries and international organizations
The creation of the Network involves the participation of 21 Latin American countriesthrough its institutions responsible for civil protection and disaster risk reduction. Spain acts as a driving force, but the project is conceived from a perspective of diversity and shared responsibility, based on the premise that no country can protect itself in isolation against threats that are often transnational in nature.
During the meeting in Antigua, various delegations emphasized that the Network responds to a widely shared need: to have a comprehensive, stable platform with a clear governance architecture to coordinate the response to emergencies, something that the Ibero-American space lacked until now.
In addition to the States, multiple regional and multilateral organizations participate as partners and technical advisors, including CEPREDENAC, Mercosur, ECLAC, the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, and the European Directorate-General for Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations. Their contribution allows the Network to rely on experiences already established in the region.
In this context, entities such as the National Emergency Commission and the Civil Defense of the Dominican Republic have positively valued the open dialogue space, considering it an opportunity to strengthen their own national strategies of risk reduction and move towards stronger and more resilient disaster risk management systems.
Mexico has also joined the mechanism through the National Coordination of Civil Protection, noting that its participation will facilitate access to cooperation channels and resources for better respond to crises both of natural origin and caused by human hands.
Strategic objectives and alignment with international frameworks
The States involved have agreed that the Network should be structured around a comprehensive approach to risk management, encompassing everything from anticipation and prevention to preparedness, response, and recovery. In this way, it is not limited to acting only after a disaster has occurred, but rather focuses on reduce exposure and vulnerability way of life.
Among the central objectives is the strengthening of the collaboration and institutional coordination between Ibero-American countries, facilitating access to cooperation funds that allow mobilize human, material and financial resources when high-impact emergencies occur.
Furthermore, the Network aims to promote collaboration with other initiatives related to climate change and water resource managementThese areas are directly linked to the increased risk of disasters in the region. This coordination will seek to maximize synergies and prevent different programs from working in a fragmented way on very similar problems.
The Network design takes into account the Sendai Frame for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030which sets as its goal a substantial reduction in risks and losses in human lives, livelihoods, health, and economic, social, cultural, and environmental assets. The new Ibero-American structure is envisioned as a tool to advance these goals from a regional perspective.
The participating countries have expressed their willingness to transform the Network into a central instrument of joint action for the planning, implementation and monitoring of risk reduction policies, so that the commitments made do not remain mere declarations, but are reflected in concrete improvements on the ground.
Recognition of Spanish leadership and future challenges
The decision to place the Directorate General of Civil Protection and Emergencies at the head of the provisional presidency and technical secretariat is interpreted as international recognition of Spain's trajectory in emergency management and cooperation in this field. The experience accumulated in complex incidents and in European response mechanisms was one of the arguments for this selection.
Officials such as Jorge Mijangos, director of Cooperation with Latin America and the Caribbean at AECID, and Francisco Tierraseca, director of FIAP, have indicated that the purpose is not only to mobilize one-off aid, but also share institutional experience and generate a “common operating language” among the civil protection systems of the region.
From CAF, voices like that of Alicia Montalvo have insisted that the Network will allow for the optimization of mobilization financial and technical resourcesThis will allow aid to reach the places where it is most needed more precisely and ensure a more efficient use of available funds. It will also involve improvements in logistical capabilities, such as the use of aircraft with more sustainable fuels and technologies to facilitate the response.
The challenges ahead are significant: consolidating an agile organizational structure, securing sustainable funding channels, maintaining a balance between countries with very different capabilities, and ensuring that decisions translate into coordinated action on the ground. All of this within a context marked by... climate emergency and the increase in extreme events that test civil protection systems.
With its sights set on the inaugural session in Madrid and the final launch planned before the end of the year, the Ibero-American Network for Civil Protection and Disaster Risk Reduction is emerging as a new pillar of regional cooperation, called to strengthen prevention, preparedness and response to crises that know no borders and that increasingly demand shared solutions between Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean.
