The impacts of droughts can be significantly reduced through a shift from a crisis based, reactive and piece meal approach of emergency and recovery strategies to a more proactive and risk-based drought management approaches. With the aim of supporting countries towards building their capacities for developing such proactive and risk-based national drought management policies, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the UN-Water Decade Programme on Capacity Development (UNW-DPC). The initiative is meant to build the necessary capacity at national levels for countries to be able to develop and adopt comprehensive national drought management policies.

After the 1st Regional Workshop for Eastern European Countries in Bucharest, Rumania, the 2nd Regional Workshop for Latin America and the Caribbean countries was held from December 4-6, 2013, in Fortaleza, Brazil. Based on expressed interest and capacity, the workshop was hosted by the Ministry of National Integration of Brazil. The three-day workshop was attended by 29 participants from 12 countries in the Latin America and the Caribbean region: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, and Uruguay.

The purpose of this webpage is to present the detailed contents of the workshop.

Materials

1. Background Materials

Workshop Banner English / Español	Workshop Agenda English / Español	List of Participants

2. National Reports

3. Presentations

Session 1: Opening Session & Overview

Overview of the initiative, objectives and scope of the workshop (Daniel Tsegai, UNW-DPC)

Session 2: Setting the Scene

Keynote by Dr. Donald A. Wilhite

Developing drought management policy: The 10-step process (Daniel Tsegai, UNW-DPC)

Session 3: Drought Monitoring and early warning Systems 

Drought Monitoing and Early Warning Systems II (Robert Stefanski, WMO)

Session 4: Vulnerability and risk assessment

4. Photo Gallery

Link to the Kick-off workshop

Link to Events on NDMP

Link to 1^st Regional Workshop Eastern European countries Page

Link to 3^rd Regional Workshop for for Asia-Pacific Page

Link to 4^th Regional Workshop for for Eastern Africa Page