Gobierno de Reconciliación y Unidad Nacional
Unida Nicaragua Triunfa
INTERVENTION BY THE DELEGATION OF NICARAGUA
AT THE FORUM ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF URBAN RESILIENCE ORGANIZED BY
THE SECRETARIAT FOR INTEGRAL DEVELOPMENT (SEDI), DEPARTMENT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
NOVEMBER 05, 2019
Madam President
The delegation of Nicaragua thanks the Chair, for the convening of this session and the presentations made by the distinguished experts invited to this event.
Building urban resilience continues to be a real challenge for the countries of the region, due to the continuous and accelerated urbanization and its extension beyond city limits, which creates vulnerability of social groups that migrate to the city, for those who are subject to exclusion, insecurity, social marginalization and are exposed to the actions of criminal groups.
Additionally, this generates challenges of overpopulation, limited infrastructure, housing, health care, education, basic services, such as water distribution, electrical energy, waste management, space allocation for recreation, as well as the environmental impact that industrial park and transportation already generates.
The present and future challenge is how we design and plan the construction of our cities, towns and communities having a friendly relationship with nature, and how we can implement an educational culture of preservation, avoiding the contamination of the environment.
As indicated at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change UNIPCC, if temperatures rise to 2.0 °C, the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda will not be achieved.
This means that States will have significant problems in maintaining urban and rural resilience, due to water scarcity, poor soil yields in food production, the proliferation of diseases, droughts, and large-scale forest fires, among others. Experts state that it is essential to stabilize global temperature at 1.5 °C.
In order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, the solidarity of the Global Partnership for Development is required, so that highly developed countries comply with the 0.7% commitment to Official Development Assistance (ODA) and from 0.5% to 0.2% for developing countries, for whom it is essential to have access to cooperation without conditionalities of any nature and to be able to access financial and technological resources.
That is why international and regional cooperation cannot be used as a weapon to put pressure and attack sovereign states, by applying unilateral, coercive and illegal sanctions which constitute a flagrant violation of the United Nations Charter, the OAS Charter and the norms and principles of International Law and the right to Self-Determination of our Peoples.
The countries that promote such practices that violate International Law, seek to defile the Sovereignty, Dignity and the rights of the people to live in peace and harmony, and intend to affect the capacity of our countries to build resilience and sustainable capacities to withstand the effects of climate change.
The aforementioned leads us to reflect on the need to establish a new economic and financial model, which allows for the creation of new patterns of production and consumption in accordance with the new resilient, sustainable lifestyles, in harmony with nature.
We reiterate the call for more effective international cooperation in the fight against climate change, with the aim of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, preventing the deforestation of forests and energizing the sustainable use of our natural resources, under the concept of a shared but differentiated approach.
The Government of Nicaragua has managed to change the energy matrix of renewable energy use from 26%, in 2007, to 62%, in 2019, and we continue with the goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 11 million tons between 2020 and 2025.
Nicaragua is ranked as the fifth country in Latin America with the best quality roads, according to the Global Competitiveness Index 2017-2018 of the World Economic Forum. Also, according to the report, Nicaragua has the best quality roads in Central America.
We also have citizen participation in project planning and drills in the case of natural disasters.
We have the National System for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Disaster of Nicaragua, whose mission is to reduce the vulnerability of people at risk of suffering disasters, caused by natural phenomena and/or generated by human activity, which endanger the lives of citizens, their assets, ecosystems and the national economy.
The above with the purpose of promoting the adoption of a culture of prevention against possible disasters and fostering scenarios for safe and sustainable development.
To boost the incorporation of risk management, with a territorial planning approach, into regional, national, institutional and territorial development plans.
To implement training programs, strengthening the local and national capacities for response to possible adverse events, with emphasis on civil protection.
To develop actions of inter-institutional nature, in order to carry out mitigation activities in the face of different threats, strengthen early warning systems and promoting awareness programs for all actors in society, for the preservation of human life and ecosystems; through the rational use of natural resources and the implementation of more technical procedures that are friendly with the environment.
To comply with and enforce the mandates of Law 337, which is the law that creates the System and supports the Executive Secretariat for the National System for the Prevention, Mitigation and Assistance of Disasters SINAPRED, the Sectorial Work Commissions and other structures that are involved.
On November 27 of this year we plan to carry out the first regional exercise in the country, to exchange best practices among search and rescue units. The Unified Firefighters of Nicaragua will participate in this exercise, along with the Humanitarian Unit of the Army of Nicaragua that has developed a rescue exercise in a combined structure.
Both have been working articulated as a single Nicaraguan unit, carrying out organizational and preparation work for our first regional exercise, the fellow members of this unit are carrying out rescue work, with simulated construction materials, but with a higher level of complexity so that they can properly articulate and perform an intervention with the best possible preparation.
During the exercise at the beginning of November of this year, more than 60 members of the rescue unit participated, a light unit that has different aspects of preparation, including canine search and rescue, rope and climbing and floods rescue.
The planning also highlights the orientation of the people located near the rescue area, where the isolation of the affected areas plays a role related to safety.
For this first exercise, seven scenarios have been planned simulating different situations. It has been advised that the participants should be people from the neighborhoods and the communities in order to strengthen the organization of the territorial structures that the country has. Thanks to the national exercises that have been carried out in recent years in which UNAN-Managua has also participated, with its brigade of POLISAL doctors and psychologists, whom will be attending the affected population with an emotional focus, joining efforts with the Ministry of Health.
Urban Resilience must be at the center of public policies aimed at the sustainable development of our economies and the improvement of the quality of life of the citizens of the Americas.
That is why the GRUN has been developing a series of innovative social programs in the development of transport infrastructure, telecommunications, electricity, ports, airports, housing, drinking water and sanitation that have benefited the population allowing greater inclusion of all sectors of the country in development efforts, to combat absolute poverty, exclusion and social inequality to advance with the compliance of a 90% execution of the programs and projects outlined by the National Government.
These successes achieved by Nicaragua have been recognized by prestigious international organizations that attest to the achievements of the Nicaraguan government.
We will continue as a nation working to strengthen a country that is more resistant to the effects of climate change and other challenges that affect modern cities. We will continue to advocate for an unconditional international cooperation, with solidarity and respect for the sovereignty of States.
Thank you very much Madam President.