More than 80% of the district's towns are affected by water shortages, according to a specialist from the project "Risk Management without Borders".

November 14, 2019. Ayabaca (Peru). Through the European Union’s EUROCLIMA+ Programme and under the framework of the Risk Management component implemented by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) and the French Development Agency (AFD), the "Binational Project for the Reduction of the Vulnerability of the Population and their Livelihoods to the Threats of Droughts and Floods in Border Territories Ecuador and Peru" or "Risk Management without Borders" is promoted.

The district territory of Ayabaca in Peru, located in the Catamayo Chira watershed, presents considerable levels of danger, vulnerability and disaster risk to drought phenomena and mass movements; in other words, more than 80% of the district's population centres are affected by water deficit, generating serious problems in agricultural activity and in the population's quality of life.

Faced with this situation, authorities, officials and civil society of the district of Ayabaca participated in a workshop held in the auditorium of the provincial municipality, in which they formulated and validated the objectives and priority actions for the disaster prevention and risk reduction plan for the dangers of drought and mass movement for the district of Ayabaca; a process that is being promoted by the Regional Management of Natural Resources and Environmental Management of the Piura Regional Government through the binational project "Risk Management without Borders."

In the workshop the institutional greeting was given by the Regional Government, in representation of the regional governor Servando García Correa and the regional manager of Natural Resources and Environmental Management, Eng. Manuel Querevalu and authorities of the provincial Municipality of Ayabaca.

This project funded by the European Union through the Euroclima+ programme and implemented by the International Cooperation Agency for Development (AECID) and the French Development Agency (ADF), through its technical team have been developing awareness meetings, technical meetings and workshops in order for key actors of the district to identify and focus on the danger zones and vulnerability in the district territory, to droughts and mass movement phenomena, and propose strategies to prevent and reduce disaster risk.

Project consultant Eng. Jaime Puicon pointed out that Ayabaca is also affected by landslides and slippage, especially during rainy seasons, causing damage and losses in the district capital itself, as well as the interruption of roadways. "This plan will make it possible to identify areas at risk to these phenomena and to propose actions to reduce the risk of disaster.

He explained that the disaster risk prevention and reduction plan that is being formulated has defined four objectives, related to knowledge about risk factors; the generation of territorial management and investment instruments for disaster risk prevention; the implementation of management and investment instruments to reduce disaster risk; and the strengthening of institutional capacity and social participation to promote disaster risk prevention and reduction processes.

In addition, studies are proposed on the level of structural fragility of public infrastructure for services, as well as social fragility and the level of resilience of social units and their livelihoods.

"Actions are being proposed to disseminate information on the level of risk of populated centres and raise awareness in the district population about the impact of the dangers of drought and mass movement, and to generate pre-investment studies that promote changes in crops, development of crops with low water consumption, among other corrective measures," said Jaime Puicón, after addressing the concerns of the participants who made contributions and supported the progress of the proposal in the plan, which will be presented and validated in a new workshop, to be held on November 25.

About the projects of the Disaster Risk Management and Reduction component: droughts and floods

A total of seven projects will be implemented through the Risk Management component of the EUROCLIMA+ programme. For more information on each project visit this link: https://www.euroclima.org/en/risk-management

About EUROCLIMA+

EUROCLIMA+ is a programme funded by the European Union to promote environmentally sustainable and climate-resilient development in 18 Latin American countries, particularly for the benefit of the most vulnerable populations. The Programme is implemented under the synergistic work of seven agencies: Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), French Development Agency (AFD), Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Expertise France (EF), International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policies (FIIAPP), the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), and UN Environment.

Contacts

For more information about EUROCLIMA+, contact Alexandra Cortés:
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For information about the EUROCLIMA+ Risk Management component, write to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.