The National Agency for Disaster Risk Mitigation in Palestine and the Earth Sciences and Seismic Engineering Center (ESSEC) at An-Najah University organized a workshop titled: “Building the Palestinian Society’s Resilience to Disasters”. The workshop was part of a series of programs that aim to promote awareness regarding disaster Risk Reduction and building the society’s capacity to deal with them.

Wasef Eriqat, Chair of the National Agency, started the workshop by explaining the Palestinians’ aching need to build the capacity of their society to face disasters and be properly prepared to deal with disastrous situations. This includes training individuals on self-reliance, how to perform both individual and collective acts to face the risks that disasters bring about, in addition to training them on how to deal with such situations especially in the first hours of the disaster.

Dr. Jalal Dabbeek, Director of the ESSEC and Vice Chair of the National Agency for Disaster Risk Mitigation, delivered a presentation in which he spoke about the strategies of building nations’ and communities’ resilience to disasters. His presentation addressed a number of key issues including: Risk analysis, integration, coordination and comprehensiveness in planning, the distribution of tasks, societal participation, reinforcing the role of media in the different phases of planning, information management, communication, rules and regulations. Moreover, Dr. Dabbeek spoke about the necessity to focus on key buildings and constructions such as hospitals, warehouses, official institutions and schools by increasing their ability to survive a disaster with a minimum of damage.

Furthermore, he explained Bangladesh example, a small country with humble potentials which was able to achieve great development with respect to disaster preparedness and Disaster Risk Reduction. He also explained the basic concepts in disaster preparedness according to the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction ISDR, the Hyogo Framework for Action and the Arab Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Hana’ Abdullah Mas’oud, Coordinator of the Health Sector Reformation and Development Project (Flagship), spoke about the experience of voluntary work with respect to building societies’ capacity to face disasters and how to attract volunteers. She also explained the importance of coordination and cooperation between he different members of the society which would help in overcoming difficulties and problems. The volunteers in this Project joined the local society in a simulation evacuation exercise that was made Burqa village in cooperation with the Civil Defense Department and other institutions.

Muhammad Jaber El-Haj Muhammad, Coordinator of the Flagship Project in Telfeit village, explained the emergency plan that was set for this village as a result of the cooperation between the village’s local council, the Health Committee, key figures, the Civil Defense and the Red Crescent. The plan included several items concerning the mechanisms needed to face disasters. These items included: Studying the internal and external environment of the village, locating and identifying safe locations, preparing lists of the names, and distributing responsibilities, committees and key telephone numbers.

Lama Al-Qassas from the Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education said that hazards in buildings result from internal factors rather than from earthquakes themselves. She also highlighted the importance of reducing poverty and population density which are two major factors that play a key role in reducing risks. Moreover, she pointed out the necessity to promote awareness regarding such issues among different groups of people in the society.

Engineer Mahmoud Abdullah, Deputy Mayor of Ramallah, called for inserting new laws through which municipalities are required to adopt disaster management, modifying construction conditions, building society’s capacity, coordinate the work of all societal bodies, allocate budgets and collect special fees for disaster management.

At the end of the workshop, the participants called for more attention to be paid to the issue of building the capacity of societies to face disasters and training individuals and institutions on how to be prepared to deal with disastrous situations. The also called for adopting disaster management and society preparedness as a national priority that is included in the governmental plans and programs based on the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) and the Hyogo Framework for Action.