

RedLac
The Regional Group on Risks, Emergencies and Disasters for Latin America and the Caribbean (REDLAC) is a regional coordination platform for disaster preparedness and response, which emerged as a way to stimulate joint understanding and analysis and rapprochement from the regional level at the global level and at the national level.
Established in 2003, REDLAC is based on the presence of regional organizations in Panama, inspired by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC). In REDLAC, organizations work to strengthen technical capacities and competencies in order to improve the regional response to disasters through a sectoral approach. REDLAC facilitates better coordination, preparation and exchange of information and facilitates the establishment of a permanent dialogue.
Considering the situation of violence in various areas of the three countries of Northern Central America (El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala) by organized crime, gangs and maras and the protection needs of many people and communities, against the act from these groups, in 2015 a Protection Group was created at the regional level in Panama, as part of the REDLAC structure.
Snapshot
Among the main objectives of this Regional Protection Group are to achieve a common understanding of the phenomenon of violence and displacement in the countries of the NCA and Mexico, its causes, its humanitarian impact in the region, and the protection needs of the affected population; as well as to increase the visibility of the problem at the regional and global levels. Since 2023 HIAS has been producing regular newsletters on violence, displacement, and protection. The analysis is based on semi-structured interviews with more than 100 humanitarian organizations and academic institutions working in Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico, as well as a monitoring of official statistics, press, studies of academic institutions and civil society.
The publications are the result of the joint position of the humanitarian organizations operating in the region, on the reading of the needs and the gaps in the response. These documents have input from a variety of Protection Group organizations, although they do not necessarily reflect the position of each organization.
These analyzes support the visibility at regional and global level of the protection situation in the NCA and strengthen advocacy efforts towards governments and donors; as well as humanitarian coordination in the region. They have also become a tool that supports operational decision-making and prioritization of actions in the protection groups of each country in North Central America.