This study forms part of United Nations support for Central America following the disaster caused by hurricane Mitch, which struck the region in October 1998. A request for this social, environmental and economic impact assessment was submitted to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) by the Planning and Programming Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic (SEGEPLAN) through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The study carries out a sectoral analysis leading to an overall assessment of the damage; it appraises the macroeconomic and environmental effects and proposes guidelines for rehabilitation and reconstruction programmes; it complements other sectoral or partial assessments conducted by national and international institutions, and financial and bilateral cooperation agencies. National authorities, coordinated by SEGEPLAN, UNDP and other United Nations agencies, as well as international institutions and agencies, collaborated in the preparation of the study. Inglés

Officials and consultants of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) and of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) joined the mission. Valuable contributions were also made by the United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA). This assessment complements the data collected by the Office of the United Nations Disaster Assistance Coordinator (UNDAC) through the Office of the Coordinator for Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA). The direct and indirect damage has been assessed in accordance with the methodology developed by ECLAC. The results are based on the mission's estimates; the study incorporates the information available and evidence collected in interviews and visits to affected locations. It is estimated that the magnitude of the losses exceeds the country's capacity to address reconstruction needs on its own, particularly if the aim is also to reduce the impact of similar events in the future, and therefore international cooperation is considered essential. This appraisal is designed to provide the government and the international community with guidelines for setting national and regional priorities in rehabilitation and reconstruction programmes. Inglés

An economic approach would be very limited, and such programmes should therefore include actions of a social nature designed to alleviate the suffering of broad segments of the population who were already in a situation of poverty and vulnerability before the disaster occurred. Special attention and priority should be placed on including sustainability and increased-governance criteria in making social and productive investments, and on allocating resources to the reconstruction and replacement of infrastructure. Guatemalan society and government face the opportunity of undertaking the reconstruction with renewed values and criteria, consolidating the peace process and embarking at the same time on institutional, legal and structural reforms to reduce economic, social and environmental vulnerability. An important aspect of such reforms will be to strengthen the country's savings, investment and management capacity as part of the reconstruction. Inglés

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