The creation of strategic partnerships between the public and private sectors for strengthening resilience of nations and communities through disaster risk reduction is a priority on the agenda of Latin American and Caribbean institutions specialized in risk management. This topic is gaining in relevance following the recent adoption of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 (SFDRR) by the Member States of the United Nations, which is the global benchmark in the field of comprehensive risk management. This agenda is supported by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), through its Regional Office for the Americas, and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), with which the Permanent Secretariat has worked in close coordination and collaboration. 

The issue of humanitarian aid is also one of the priorities of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), which has promoted and supported the regional meetings on International Humanitarian Assistance Mechanisms (MIAH). One of the objectives of MIAH Action Plan is “to encourage strategic partnerships with the private sector”, which are coordinated by SELA.

During the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR), held in March 2015 in Sendai, Japan, participants adopted the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, stressing the need for the public and private sectors to work more closely and to create opportunities for collaboration. In addition, companies must integrate disaster risk into their management practices.

SELA has conducted five regional meetings to analyze and promote public-private partnerships for disaster risk reduction. These regional meetings have evidenced the need to continue strengthening the mutually beneficial and complementary relationship between the public and private sectors, thus allowing for enhancing the prevention and response capacity of society and its institutions during disasters.

In 2015, the Permanent Secretariat will organize the IV Regional Meeting "Partnerships between the public and private sectors for disaster risk reduction in Latin America and the Caribbean: Corporate social responsibility in risk management," in conjunction with the Central American Coordination Centre for Natural Disaster Prevention (CEPREDENAC) and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), through its Regional Office for the Americas, in Panama.