Paul C. Bell Risk Management Program

Spurred in large part by the El Niño-Southern Oscillation of 1997-1998, Hurricane Mitch in 1998, and then devastating earthquakes in Peru (1999) and El Salvador (2001), higher education institutions in the LAC region either expanded or began developing Gestión de Riesgo offerings of various types (regular courses, short courses, certificates, emphases, undergraduate and graduate degrees, etc.). As our 2004 assessment discovered, however, many of these Gestión de Riesgo efforts were more opportunistic than planned, resulting in a large number inadequately resourced, poorly staffed, and rather “insular” in the sense of duplicating initiatives in other LAC countries and, at times, even within the same country. The predicted result in 2004 was significant program attrition in the next few years. The currently completing 2009 assessment is confirming the attrition but also, more positively, discovering that some university programs have evolved toward permanency.