Humanitarian assistance

The Humanitarian Hub: First Aid from Panama

At a time when humanitarian assistance and the strategic storage of medicines and vaccines are uppermost in the minds of many, it’s perhaps reassuring to take note of CLRAH – the Centro Logístico Regional de Asistencia Humanitaria/Regional Humanitarian Assistance Logistics Center – in Panama.

It’s one of six such facilities set up globally by the UN Humanitarian Response Depot (UNHRD). The other five are located in Brindisi, Dubai, Accra, Kuala Lumpur and Las Palmas.

Climate variability, political instability and more recently global pandemics increase the risk of catastrophe for a growing number of people across the Caribbean and Latin America. Panama’s strategic geographic location and longstanding logistical expertise and capacity led to the installation of an emergency response center for the region.

Launched as a Government initiative CLRAH (or Humanitarian Hub as it is known), began operating in Panama in late 2018. The Hub’s main objective is to take advantage of the country’s comparatively stable economic and political environment, its limited vulnerability to natural events such as hurricanes and its highly developed air and maritime connectivity. As a result, Panama is an ideal base from which to ensure a better coordinated, faster and more effective response to possible disasters in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Read more...