About
Americas Relief Team (ART), as one of the main initiatives of Outreach Aid to the Americas (OAA), has the mission of providing humanitarian logistics assistance and educational programs for disaster victims in the Americas and developing sustainable programs that establish long-term benefits for those in need. ART focuses on the following three programmatic areas:
- Disaster Preparedness, by conducting disaster prevention programs in urban centers and airports and seaports in Latin America;
- Disaster Response and Aid, by collaborating with partners to stage and deliver humanitarian aid after a crisis occurs; and
- Humanitarian Assistance to alleviate human suffering in the Americas.
To help LAC communities respond at the highest possible level during future critical events, ART provides planning, strategy development, and training along with the tools and resources needed to increase local preparedness and self-sufficiency. When disasters strike, ART provides humanitarian logistics assistance to coordinate targeted, efficient relief efforts to reduce the suffering of the most vulnerable people.
In response to lessons learned during the 2010 Earthquake in Haiti and from hurricanes in the Caribbean, Mexico, and the U.S., ART began in 2012 to develop the Community Port Resiliency Program (C-PReP). C-PReP provides LAC airports and seaports with technical, material, and strategic support to help them tackle the complex challenges inherent in preparing for and responding to a crisis.
C-PReP’s goals are:
- To protect life, property, and economic vitality
- To enhance regional and national resiliency by protecting transportation infrastructure.
- To help airports and seaports improve their resiliency through cost-effective, relatively easy-to-implement methods.
- To facilitate rapid import and distribution of commerce and humanitarian aid to victims following a crisis occurrence.
C-PReP’s objectives:
- To help airports and seaports improve their disaster preparedness
- To speed the post-disaster recovery of airports and seaports
- To help airports and seaports coordinate resumption of commercial service with extraordinary relief activities during disaster response and recovery
- To promote improved inter-agency coordination and communication
- To promote mutual aid among airports and airports, seaports and seaports, and airports and seaports
C-PReP’s Executive Committee:
Robert Hans
Technical Coordinator, Port Resiliency Program