On June 26, 2026, I joined Canal 13’s morning show to analyze the humanitarian and operational situation in Venezuela following a double earthquake that has claimed a preliminary toll of over 580 lives. With the first 72 hours being critical for search and rescue operations, the conversation covered three key dimensions of Disaster Risk Management.Continue reading “Canal 13 Interview: Venezuela Earthquake — Humanitarian Crisis and International Response”
Author Archives: Cristóbal Mena
Why Tabletop Exercises Matter in Crisis Readiness
A plan that has never been activated under realistic pressure is a document, not a capability. Here’s what tabletop exercises reveal — and why your organization needs them.
Climate Resilience and Adaptation in the Caribbean: Grenada Case Study
Comprehensive Disaster Risk Management Plans: Grenada The Challenge: Grenada’s government ministries and schools lacked standardized frameworks for disaster risk management. There was no unified approach to operational continuity planning across institutions, limiting the country’s ability to maintain critical services during and after disasters. Our Work Working with the World Bank, I led the development ofContinue reading “Climate Resilience and Adaptation in the Caribbean: Grenada Case Study”
Transfluvial Emergency Response Coordination
Crisis Management Planning & Exercise: Uruguay The Challenge: A crisis management team in Uruguay needed practical tools and realistic testing to strengthen their capacity to respond to complex, multi-sector crises. What We Did Working with RCML, I designed a comprehensive crisis management plan tailored to the Uruguayan context and facilitated a tabletop exercise with theContinue reading “Transfluvial Emergency Response Coordination”
Disaster Risk Management Law: The Chilean Experience (Ley 21.364)
National Disaster Prevention and Response System: Law 21.364 (Chile) The Challenge: Chile’s institutional framework for disaster risk reduction and emergency response was fragmented. There was no unified national system to coordinate across government levels and align disaster risk reduction with long-term national planning. Leadership & Implementation As National Subdirector at ONEMI (Chile’s National Emergency Office),Continue reading “Disaster Risk Management Law: The Chilean Experience (Ley 21.364)”
Why G7 Climate Pledges Don’t Reach the Communities That Need Them Most
G7 pledges on climate finance are necessary but insufficient. Why early warning systems alone cannot close the adaptation gap.
Mega Interview: Wildfire Risk in Chile — Prevention, Territory Planning, and Building Codes
Extreme temperatures are increasing wildfire risk. In this interview with Florencia Vial on Mega, we discussed the importance of shared responsibility in prevention — given that 99% of wildfires are attributed to human actions — as well as the need to invest in resilience rather than spending on emergency response, how to improve territorial planning,Continue reading “Mega Interview: Wildfire Risk in Chile — Prevention, Territory Planning, and Building Codes”
Resilience and Climate Change Adaptation
Fostering community resilience and introducing adaptation initiatives to withstand and reduce the impacts of Climate Change are essential to sustain livelihoods. Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Technical Advisor on Resilience, Disaster Risk Reduction, and Food Security for Latin America and the Caribbean. 2023-Today We are working with the NGO Catholic Relief Services to provide technical adviseContinue reading “Resilience and Climate Change Adaptation”
Radio Agricultura: Chile’s Wildfires and the National Disaster Prevention System
Chile’s wildfires put the country’s new National Disaster Prevention and Response System to the test — and exposed the urgent need to strengthen a prospective, prevention-focused approach to risk. In this radio interview with Christian Pino Lanata and Karla Rubilar on Radio Agricultura, we discussed what the emergency revealed about institutional readiness and the culturalContinue reading “Radio Agricultura: Chile’s Wildfires and the National Disaster Prevention System”
Guide to Manage Spontaneous Volunteers in Emergencies
Here’s a guide from Chile, in Spanish, on how to manage eficiently and safely the spontaneous volunteers that respond to a disaster.
4DRR.com 