The National Agency for Disasters Risk Mitigation Organized a Workshop on Disaster Management and Preparedness
05 December 2010
On December 5th 2010, the National Agency for Disasters Risk Mitigation in Palestine in cooperation with the Earth Sciences and Seismic Engineering Center (ESSRC) at the University and the Palestinian Contractors Union organized a workshop at the Agency's headquarter in Ramallah. The workshop focused on a number of topics including the standards of disaster management and the related international procedures, the role of public relations in disaster management, the impact of voluntary work in this field and the importance of enhancing the society's role in facing different kinds of disasters.
Wasef Eriqat, the Director of the National Agency for Disasters Risk Mitigation, presented a summary of the main points needed to prepare well for disasters and supported his presentation with a film that he displayed which told the story of a real earthquake. Through this film, Eriqat explained the field procedures that were followed to face the earthquake both on the local and international levels and the ways this disaster was managed. Eriqat also said that the issue of disaster management requires coordination and cooperation between the different individuals and institutions in the country. It is a collective effort that makes disaster preparedness more effective, thus, reducing the negative and destructive impacts of a disaster. He also provided that societies and countries that prepare and train their people to face such situations often succeed in having 80 % of its population survive a disaster.
Engineer Adel Odeh, Head of the Palestinian Contractors Union and the Member of the Administrative Body at the National Agency for Disaster Risk Mitigation spoke about he challenges and difficulties that the Palestinian society faces in this respect. He said that there is an aching need to support the potentials of the Palestinian society and dedicate the governmental and non governmental efforts to achieve better preparedness. He added that the Union will work on cooperating with the National Agency and other bodies in Palestine to discuss issues related to disaster management and preparedness especially in light of the recent discoveries that highlight the seismicity of the region and the possibility of major earthquakes in the future.
Other members of the National Agency spoke about the biggest challenge that faces the response rate to emergency situations which is the Israeli roadblocks that spread all over the Palestinian territories which make movement between the Palestinian cities, towns, villages and refugee camps almost impossible. Disaster preparedness procedures will be ineffective in case such roadblocks remain because any evacuation or rescue operations will be hindered, thus resulting in human loss and more destruction in case a disaster takes place.
They also pointed out that the international community does not deal with Palestine as a state, therefore, receiving international support and aid will be relatively difficult and limitations on movement will hinder any rescue or help in time of disaster.
The participants expressed their deep interest in this issue and emphasized the importance of coordinating efforts between the related institutions and individuals to manage disastrous situations in the most effective way possible. They also recommended preparing the Palestinian society to face possible disasters and support it with knowledge and experience to deal with emergency situations.
At the end of the workshop, the National Agency emphasized that it will continue to hold similar workshops and courses to raise the public awareness regarding disaster management and preparedness. Disaster risk management must be considered a national priority that should be taken into consideration by the different official and non official bodies in the country in order to protect the lives of people and their property.
