Countries highlight the role of White Helmets in the hemisphere
Last 20 September, at a joint meeting between the Permanent Council and the Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CIDI) of the Organization of American States, the OAS-White Helmets Fund was declared a "Humanitarian Fund" as of this month, as a result of the humanitarian aid tasks performed by the White Helmets and its status as a valuable mechanism in the Hemisphere for disaster prevention, mitigation and response.
Declaring the OAS-White Helmets Fund a "Humanitarian Fund" will allow for the efficient use and optimization of the Argentine Foreign Ministry's resources, by exempting them from Indirect Costs and other reimbursement requirements.
The White Helmets Commission of the Argentine Foreign Ministry and the OAS General Secretariat have entered into an "Agreement on the Donation and Use of Specifically Targeted Contributions from the Argentine Republic to the White Helmets Special Fund", seeking to provide humanitarian aid in emergencies or chronic crises, in accordance with the programme directives prioritized by the OAS General Secretariat.
Since 1998, the White Helmets have performed 190 humanitarian aid tasks in Latin America and the Caribbean alongside the OAS General Secretariat. These include the development of the Inter-American Plan for Disaster Prevention and Response and the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance, the revision of the Inter-American Program for Sustainable Development, and the participation in Conferences, Seminars and hemispheric Summits on disaster risk reduction.
Press release No. 428/17
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