Mission
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) is an international public health agency with more than 100 years of experience in working to improve health and living standards of the countries of the Americas.
It serves as the specialized organization for health of the Inter-American System. It also serves as the Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization (WHO) and enjoys international recognition as part of the United Nations system.
The aim of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) is to support countries in the Americas to increase resilience of the health sector’ s to all types of disasters, with the ultimate goal of reducing morbidity and mortality and straightforward recovery.
PAHO/WHO’s commitment to the countries is based on improve disaster preparedness; protect health services; strengthen partnerships with national, regional and global actor and mainstream DRR across all partners.
PAHO/WHO supports national partners to:
- strengthen their disaster program with leadership and credibility,
- provide training opportunities to health professionals,
- develop guidelines, standards and technical knowledge,
- reach out to partners in creating a disaster-resilient community.
PAHO/WHO is committed to ensuring that hospitals are there when people need them most. An essential lifeline in the community, a Safe Hospital is one that does not collapse in disasters and continues to function, delivering essential services during and after emergencies.
PAHO/WHO works with the countries in the Region to:
- ensure new hospitals are built with high levels of protection
- develop national policies on Safe Hospitals,
- encourage the assessment of existing facilities and their potential vulnerabilities to disasters and for that PAHO/WHO developed the Hospital Safety Index. Today, more than 32 countries in the Americas have used this tool to identify risk and prioritize corrective measures.
Voluntary Commitments
The Sendai Framework Voluntary Commitments (SFVC) online platform allows stakeholders to inform the public about their work on DRR. The SFVC online platform is a useful toolto know who is doing what and where for the implementation of the Sendai Framework, which could foster potential collaboration among stakeholders. All stakeholders (private sector, civil society organizations, academia, media, local governments, etc.) working on DRR can submit their commitments and report on their progress and deliverables.