Palestine: Workshop on disaster risk reduction in Hebron calls for 'practical steps'
A workshop on disaster risk reduction was held in Hebron on Tuesday 4th January 2011. A number of national institutions, ministries and public organizations attended.
The workshop was organized in cooperation between An-Najah National University’s Earth Sciences and Seismic Engineering Center (ESSEC), the Engineering Association-Al Quds Center-Hebron, the Civil Defense Directorate in Hebron, and the National Agency for Disaster Risk Mitigation.
Mr. Kamel Hamid, Hebron Governor, highlighted the importance of organizing a workshop on such an important subject. He also pointed out that holding this type of event comes at a time when many recent forecasts indicated the possibility of a major earthquake taking place in Palestine in the future.
Dr. Isac Sadir, from the Engineering Association, spoke about the activities that the Association performs regarding disasters risks reduction and explained the coordination efforts it maintains with the concerned bodies in this respect.
Dr. Jalal Dabbeek, Director of the ESSEC and Vice President of the National Agency for Disaster Risk Mitigation, gave a lecture entitled “The Relation between Seismic Disasters, Climate Change, Sustainable Development and Disaster Risk Reduction Program”.
Dr. Dabbeek discussed different issues including: the assessment of disasters risks in general and seismic ones in particular, how to identify the exact level of such risks, the ability of societies and institutions to face disasters alone or through help from outside, the relationship between global warming and the possibility of an earthquake in the future. Another issue discussed was connecting the disaster risk reduction system with sustainable development and strategic planning to achieve the strategic goals of the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2010 (Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters) and the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction UN-ISDR.
Dr. Dabbek also presented several examples of hazard maps, vulnerability of buildings and constructions, in addition to explaining how to build individuals’ and institutions’ responsiveness to disasters. He also reviewed the major results of the general seismic survey, conducted by ESSEC in coordination with the Opinion Polls and Survey Studies Center on seismic awareness and the designing of earthquake-resistant buildings.
Dr. Dabbeek anticipated that the ESSEC will coordinate with a number of local institutions, including the National Agency for Disaster Risk Mitigation, the Civil Defense, and various municipalities and ministries, to carry out several local activities focused on building the Palestinian society’s resilience to disasters.
Wasef Eriqat, President of the National Agency for Disaster Risk Mitigation, gave a lecture in which he spoke about the role that the civil society plays in dealing with disastrous situations and emphasized the importance of developing the relationship with the related governmental and official institutions.
Mahfouth Hanaisheh, Director of the Civil Defense in Hebron, described the emergency plan designed to deal with disasters in case it occur in Hebron. Meanwhile, Engineer Najeh Ayyash explained some of the general developmental plans that the Civil Defense adopts. Moreover, Mr. Naser Qabaja, from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, presented a paper that discussed disasters preparedness, risk reduction and the role of the Red Crescent in this respect.
Engineer Faisal Diyab, Head of the Technical Department at the Engineering Association-Al Quds Center, spoke about the designing and construction of buildings, as well as the role of the Association in monitoring the specifications associated with the design of these buildings to make them more resilient to disasters in general and earthquakes in particular.
The participants expressed how important the workshop was, and emphasized the need to translate these events into practical steps that will ensure effective disaster risk reduction systems. They also stressed the importance of coordinating efforts between the Civil Defense, the Red Crescent, the ESSEC, and the National Agency in this respect.