Noboa Makes El Niño Prevention a National Priority

Ecuador is placing its response to El Niño on a national footing after issuing a red alert across the country. President Daniel Noboa declared prevention and preparedness a priority, while also ordering response and recovery measures to follow the event’s evolution and risk scenarios.

The decree assigns coordinated work to ministries covering government, infrastructure and technology, public health, environment and energy, labor, economic development, education, defense and the interior. The Ministry of Economic Development and Production must take the budgetary steps needed to provide resources to the other ministries.

Noboa also urged local governments to strengthen their action plans according to guidance from the National Secretariat for Risk Management. Technical and scientific bodies were asked to maintain monitoring of oceanic, atmospheric, meteorological and hydrological conditions so authorities can make earlier decisions and reduce associated losses and damage.

Carolina Lozano, head of the risk-management secretariat, estimates that around 1.3 million people in 17 provinces could be exposed to El Niño’s effects. The government says it has allocated $650 million across different ministries, with 70% earmarked for prevention and the remaining 30% for response.