Experts seek to unify Arab policies on disaster risk reduction
By Raed Omari
Aqaba - Senior officials from Arab states and the Arab League as well as UN representatives gathered on Tuesday in the port city of Aqaba for the first Arab event on disaster risk reduction (DRR).
Participants in the first Arab Regional Conference on DRR, which was inaugurated by HRH Princess Sumaya, are scheduled to engage in brainstorming sessions for three consecutive days to come up with a common Arab position on the international framework for DRR.
The framework will be agreed on during the 2015 World Conference on DRR in Japan.
The three-day conference is also expected to see the launch of the regional platform for DRR which, according to organisers, will provide a platform where Arab politicians, policy makers, academia and other experts can periodically discuss progress and challenges.
Organised by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), UNDP, the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA), the Swiss Development Cooperation and the Arab League, the conference is also expected to announce the Arab Declaration on DRR.
In an address at the opening ceremony, Princess Sumaya, president of the Royal Scientific Society, highlighted the timing of the conference, when a number of factors have magnified the exposure and vulnerability of Arab cities to disaster and its aftermath.
“The explosive increase in urban populations in recent decades, coupled with poor planning in land use, has expanded the potential hazard to cause havoc in our cities," the princess said.
"A shocking absence of enforced building construction standards, a sharp rise in urban poverty and the growing and unchecked impact of climate change are among other factors that must make even more determined to act decisively.”
Margareta Wahlstrom, special representative of the UN secretary general for DDR, also said the conference was well timed.
"The timing could not be better as we are looking forward to the Arab region making a significant contribution towards revising and renewing the existing framework for DRR, the Hyogo Framework for Action [HFA].”
HFA is the first plan to explain, describe and detail the work that is required from all different sectors and actors to reduce disaster losses.
It outlines five priorities for action, and offers guiding principles and practical means for achieving disaster resilience. Its goal is to substantially reduce disaster losses by 2015 by building the resilience of nations and communities to disasters.
In his speech, ASEZA Chief Commissioner Kamel Mahadin summarised DRR measures taken by the authority.
“The ancient name for Aqaba is Ayla, meaning in Arabic ‘on the verge of collapse’," Mahadin said, adding that “geologically speaking, Aqaba is always subject to disasters and thus needs to adopt a DRR strategy.”
He noted that resilience and DRR have been major priorities for ASEZA, which has resulted in enhancing the image of the Kingdom’s sole port city as a business and investment attraction.
The volume of investment has increased during the past three years to reach $10 billion, according to Mahadin.
The major DRR measures taken in Aqaba include building new housing units for people living in vulnerable areas and giving specialised training to the local community on how to respond to natural disasters, he noted.
ASEZA has set up a DRR unit at its headquarters, the first of its kind in the entire Arab region.
“ASEZA has ambitious plans to promote DRR at the national and regional levels,” he said.
Several Arab countries are regularly exposed to a number of natural disasters, including earthquakes, landslides, flash floods, drought, sandstorms and wildfires, according to data provided to UNISDR by the Belgium-based Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters.
Over the last 30 years in the Arab states, around 164,000 persons were killed and 70 million were affected and reported economic damages of $19.2 billion due to disasters triggered by natural hazards.
The outcomes of the event and similar regional deliberations will be presented at the Global Platform for DRR in Geneva, Switzerland from May 19-23 — the world’s foremost gathering of stakeholders committed to DRR and building the resilience of communities and nations.