Presentation

Carlos Veloso (Head of the Preparedness and Emergency Response Program of the UN World Food Program (WFP – UN)/ Coordinator of the Food Programme in Haiti)

Organizing Committee: José Manuel Mendes, Luisa Sales, Aida Dias and Susana Freiria.

At the end of the conference, collaboration protocols between CES – Trauma Centre and a set of National institutions which act in crisis, disaster or catastrophe environments, will be signed. The following institutions confirmed their presence: Associação Nacional dos Alistados das Formações Sanitárias | Associação de Apoio à Vítima | Cruz Vermelha Portuguesa | Direcção de Saúde da Força Aérea | GARE – Associação para a Promoção de uma Cultura de Segurança Rodoviária | Guarda Nacional Republicana | Instituto da Segurança Social | Liga dos Bombeiros Portugueses | Serviço Regional de Protecção Civil e Bombeiros da Madeira | Serviço Regional de Protecção Civil e Bombeiros dos Açores.

 
Biographic Note

Carlos Veloso, degreed economist, is presently the Head of the Preparedness and Emergency Response Program of the UN World Food Program (WFP – UN)/.
During the course of his career he has developed advisory activities in the fields of humanitarian coordination, organization and logistics, namely in Angola, Somalia, North Korea and Mozambique.
In 2003 he was nominated Operational Deputy Director for the Iraq operation, in mid 2004 was transferred to Sudan as Coordinator of the WFP to Darfur. In 2007 he assumed the head of the Preparedness and Emergency Response Program of the UN World Food Program (WFP – UN)/, with seat in Rome. In mid January of the present year he was sent to Haiti in order to coordinate the WFP-UN operations in response to the earthquake that shook Port au Prince.

 
About the Trauma Centre

The CES Trauma Centre, under the supervision of José Manuel Mendes, sociologist and Luísa Sales, psychiatrist, was approved by the Scientific Board of the Centre for Social Studies of the  University of Coimbra on June 25th,  2009. It is an entity that seeks to promote and disseminate knowledge regarding prevention and intervention in psychological trauma in crisis, disaster or catastrophe situations, as well as collaborating with institutions involved in these scenarios.
In fact, psychosocial intervention in trauma, be it at the level of research, network formation, intervention protocols construction be it even at the level of training certified technicians, is today, internationally recognized as a priority theme.
Moreover, the current relevance of the transversality of trauma studies grants a university structure to congregate, associate and catalyse different interventions and institutions to circulate in this field. 
The priority axes of intervention of the CES Trauma Centre are based on:
- collecting and sharing information regarding the theme;
- researching and promoting cooperation networks and protocols;
- stimulating interdisciplinary dialogue regarding the different fields of knowledge that interact in the psychosocial response to crisis, disaster or catastrophe situations;
- collaborating in the training of technicians and public in general.