During the diploma course close to 20 projects were developed for latinamerican movies and documentaries, to ensure they are filmed in the different countries enriching the audiovisual culture of our continent.

The course is an international initiative of the Cinematografic Association of Panama. In its 3rd consecutive year, it has included the participation of film producers from 16 different countries. It has had ample international recognition as a result of its two previous versions, including movies by the participants already in the pre­production and filming stages.

From its beginning , the course has had the support of the Menéndez Pelayo University‘s Foundation for Audiovisual Investigation, which certifies the diploma in Spain, The University of Panama‘s School for Social Communications, the IBERMEDIA program and recently, playing an integral part in the international success of the project, The City of Knowledge Foundation.

The Business Accelerator of the City of Knowledge and the Casco Antiguo Office (OCA), yesterday announced the contest for culturally based businesses at Casco Antiguo, with a view to promoting culturally based ideas with growth capability as well as attributing value to the cultural heritage. The contest is open to already existing cultural businesses wishing to develop themselves further or for new ideas, on the condition that they be developed at Casco Antiguo. Already 15 premises have been obtained and it is expected that within 3 years (when the project is concluded) there may be 50 premises of cultural businesses, as anticipated by Pitu Jaén, assistant to OCA’s directorate. Instead of cash, the awards are workshops for the development of business plans conducted by the network of entrepreneurial solutions, Fundes, according to Manuel Lorenzo, manager of the Business Accelerator. Nevertheless, Banco Delta has committed itself to give loans to some of the businesses, he said. The funds for the entire project, which includes a study on cultural entrepreneurial trends and a work on anchor businesses amount to 1.2 million dollars contributed by the Inter­American Development Bank (IDB) and OCA.

As rightly stated by German sociologist Ulrich Beck (Paidos 2003) we are installed in the society of global risk, where "civil protection against catastrophes (as sole response instrument) has become senseless". The strategies for facing natural disasters or financial crises require global response, shared leadership and practical coordination mechanisms. In this sense, Panama, thanks to its strategic position and the facilities it affords from the logistic viewpoint, favors the consolidation of a new humanitarian model, a new international architecture for humanitarian response to natural disasters in the region. The consolidation of an international humanitarian hub for Latin America and the Caribbean, with headquarters in Panama, allows humanitarian organizations a prompt, coordinated and more efficient response whenever a disaster occurs. We are thus witnessing a humanitarian response decentralization process, unheard of in any other region and which could be taken as a model to be followed.

As a result of the establishment in the country of the United Nations regional offices, the fora for regional humanitarian analysis and discussion have been transferred to Panama. In this way, the international community may better and more closely approach the governments, local authorities and those affected by disasters. The creation in the country of the United Nations Inter­Agency Group for Disasters, Risks and Emergencies (Redlac) is a good example.

The consolidation in Panama of this working Group has been a step forward in interagency coordination, an internal practice that is essential within the United Nations. In addition, it also involves the necessary responsibility of the humanitarian international community, vis­à­vis governments and national authorities that require a coordinated humanitarian community that may facilitate orderly ad practical support and will not generate further chaos to that already existing when a disaster occurs in some area of the region.

This humanitarian working table includes the main United Nations agencies in this sphere, such as the Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Unicef, the World Food Program or the Pan­American Health Organization, among others, as well as nongovernmental organizations such as Oxfam or Doctors without Borders and some donors such as the Humanitarian Office of the European Commission or Spanish Cooperation.

Secondly, from a practical standpoint, Panama is becoming the platform for humanitarian response to the region of the Americas, from which organizations and governments offer their technical and material support to the victims of natural disasters. The logistic and supply facilities, together with its geographical position make Panama a suitable place for this initiative. For this reason, for several years the International Red Cross Federation, through its Pan­American Unit of Response to Disasters and recently, the United Nations, through its Humanitarian Response Warehouse or Spanish Cooperation, through its Humanitarian Logistic Center in Latin America, among others, have based their humanitarian response operations in Panama. The devastation caused by hurricanes "Gustav", "Hanna" and "Ike" is a good example thereof. Over eight humanitarian charters from different organizations and some containers with humanitarian aid have been sent from Panama to Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti and other places.

The dimension of this platform and its operation as a whole, is still a pending challenge which should be determined in 2009. However, there is already a requirement for all of them; that is, they are obliged to understand each other and work as a responsible, humanitarian community that maximizes its resources and guarantees that their support will cause an impact. It is necessary to ensure tangible results.

Ten years have elapsed since hurricane "Mitch" (see Overview of the trend in disaster risk management in Central America, prepared by Redlac). Its devastating effect shattered the Central American economies and jeopardized the development of these countries for many years. Therefore, we are all obliged to reflect on how to reduce risks, temper the impact of these natural phenomena and provide an adequate response, to soothe the suffering of those affected during the critical moments.