In cooperation between the Earth Sciences and Seismic Engineering Centre (ESSEC), the Palestinian National committee for Education Science and Culture, UNESCO, the National Committee for Disaster Mitigation, the Civil Defence Division and the Engineers Association, a workshop was organized titled "Disaster Management and Emergency Entrust in Palestine".
Engineer Abd Al-Hakim Aljohari from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and part time researcher in the ESSEC, acted as a panellist and presented the agenda of the workshop. In the opening session, the Coordinator of the Southern area of the Civil Defence Division, Jalal Abu-Sultan, spoke about the wretched conditions the Civil Defence Centres and units are facing in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. He pointed out that the Bethlehem Governorate is highly vulnerable because of the low preparedness and lack of minimum requirements providing security for citizens in case of natural disasters. He also implored the audience to share knowledge, experiences and lessons learned from the seismic history of the area and showcased best practices of other disaster mitigation initiatives.
As chairman of the Bethlehem branch of the Engineers Association, Lutfy Abu-Hashish spoke about the objectives and tasks of the National Committee for Disaster Mitigation. He also called for increased community participation to increase awareness of disaster mitigation.
Dr Al-Dabeek submitted two lectures titled as "Earthquakes and our Readiness" and "Concepts and Bases of Planning to Manage Disasters and to Entrust Emergences". Dr. Dabbeek detailed the necessary steps that should be followed to plan for disaster management. He asked for a paradigm shift at academic and practical levels for Palestinian engineers as well as for the engineering associations to authorize a seismic code for buildings.
Two other presentations were given. One of them was by Sami Hamdan from the Civil Defence Division talked about the abilities and the capabilities of this Palestinian institution. He talked about the shortages in their budgets to support rescuing operations in case of natural disasters. The second presentation was presented by Bashir Ahmed the Director of Disaster Response in the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS). Mr. Ahmed talked about the current capabilities and precaution techniques adopted by the PRCS.
The Workshop ended with a set of conclusions and recommendations about disaster mitigation in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip which involved assessments of hazard, vulnerability and risk. From these assessments, mitigation strategies should be identified, prioritized and implemented. Disaster mitigation training, awareness raising, information dissemination and community-based approaches to disaster mitigation must be executed as part of the disaster mitigation process with the aim to replicate and institutionalize disaster mitigation process throughout Palestine.