Memorandum submitted by Coda International

 

 

 

Clerk of the Committee

International Development Committee

 

 

10 May 2006

 

 

 

 

Dear Sir/Madame,

 

 

The attached brief essay touches on several of the themes for which evidence was required by the International Committee. The provided evidence is based on our experience and the experience of our partner organisations in El Salvador. Many of these organisations are composed of communities living in high risk areas and affected by various disasters over the past years.

 

One question raised by the committee is "What evidence is there that interventions based on natural disaster mitigation and social safety nets have reduced the vulnerability of population to natural disasters? We argue that vulnerability has increased in the case of El Salvador, comparing Hurricane Mitch of 1997 to Hurricane Stan of 2006.

 

We also seek to address the question regarding the binary nature of humanitarian assistance and development work, urging that effective humanitarian assistance like effective development work should both be carried out in direct relationship to and with the greatest possible participation of the target or beneficiary populations.

 

We hope that our brief contributes to the enrichment of your findings.

All the best,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CODA International