UNESCO, Japan to Boost Natural Hazard Resilience across Arab Region

NOKE Masaki, Japanese Ambassador to Egypt and Dr. Ghaith H. Fariz, Director of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Regional Bureau for Sciences in the Arab States in Cairo, signed a cooperation agreement on March 3, 2020, at the Japanese Embassy in Cairo.

The signing ceremony initiated a one-year project entitled, ‘Urgent Interventions to Build Socio-Ecological System Resilience to Natural Hazards in MENA region’, supported by a grant of US$227,272 from the Government of Japan. The project aims to improve the readiness of the community in addressing natural hazards and climate change in risks prone areas in the Arab Region.

“We will capitalize on Japan’s knowledge and expertise in the field of natural hazard management and the experience we have gained from ongoing Japanese initiatives in the Arab region”, said Ambassador NOKE.

In welcoming the launch of this cooperation, Dr. Ghaith Fariz said: “We thank the Japanese Government for this generous contribution. We will ensure the successful implementation and viability of the project through the integration of its outcomes within the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Sciences in the Arab States agenda”. He added that by “building on the scientific and intellectual leadership of UNESCO in Disaster Risk Reduction and Earth Sciences and by taking advantage of UNESCO multidisciplinary, multi-sectoral global networks, we will contribute to the improvement of the lives and well-being of communities in the Arab region”.

The project will provide measures and tools to boost ecosystem resilience and the community’s readiness in addressing and managing natural hazard risks. Its aim is to put in place schemes based on evidenced-based policies to ensure good practices in managing natural hazards in fragile settings in the Arab region. The project will target two pilot sites featuring different land-use types in urban and rural areas in Egypt and Jordan.

Local Community-based Disaster Risk Reduction strategies will be developed to ensure well-rounded communities ready to address the risks pre-, during and post-natural hazard events. Together, they will build expertise and strengthen the capacity of national and local institutions to reduce natural hazards risks. The activities will kick off in April 2020 and will be managed by UNESCO’s Regional Bureau for Sciences in the Arab States Office in Cairo in close coordination with UNESCO’s Amman Office.

Throughout history, the Government of Japan has played a leading role in addressing natural hazards risks, disaster prevention, and post-disaster interventions. This success is a result of the hard-won experience gained from numerous post-disaster recovery and build back better efforts in Japan.

The project will therefore engage Japanese counterparts; such as the International Research Institute of Disaster Science (IRIDeS) at Tohoku University and Japanese Institutions in Egypt to bring state of the art knowledge to the Region. Already, discussions aimed at designing and developing of a Training of Trainers curriculum and modules is underway. It is expected that the first training led by international and regional multi-hazards experts will be launched in late 2020.

UNESCO operates at the interface between natural and social sciences, education, culture and communication to foster ecological, social, and economic resilience in areas prone to natural hazards. The organization assists countries in building and strengthening capacities in risks prevention and plays a vital role in supporting member states’ implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030. The Sendai Framework is designed to contribute to the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement.

Under the motto “U&I - Build resilience”, the project will bolster community engagement in this effort to save lives and livelihoods of people. It will provide a platform for establishing partnerships and fostering dialogue between all stakeholders - national competent authorities, research institutions; agricultural and civil engineering professionals from the private sector; emergency services, as well as other national regional and international organizations involved in natural hazard risk reduction.