BEIRUT: Middle Eastern and North African countries are falling behind global averages in reducing the risks of natural disaster, according to a United Nations report released Wednesday in Beirut.
“Globally, mortality risk for weather-related hazards, [such as] the risk of dying due to flood or tropical cyclone, is declining. However, this is not so in the MENA region,” said Bina Disai, program officer at the U.N. International Strategy for Disaster Reduction.
The findings of the 2011 UNISDR report, which was launched in its Arabic version by ESCWA and the UNISDR, were presented at a two-day conference on the topic.
Scientists, policymakers and government officials from across the region gathered for the two-day conference, which is aimed at highlighting the economic, social, and environmental impact climate change is having in the region.
“While risks are increasing, investment in risk reduction remains low,” said Tarek Sadek, First Economic Affairs Officers at the ESCWA Sustainable Development and Productivity Division, speaking at the “Expert Group Meeting on Assessing Climate Change Impacts on Water Resources and Socio-Economic Development in the Arab Region.”
“The cost of disasters is rising and the risk of economic loss and damage is increasing across the globe,” Disai added. “This, unfortunately, is also the case for the MENA region.”
Disai also drew on case studies from Lebanon, Jordan and Syria to illustrate the scale of the impact of drought on local economies, as well as the lives of people in the region.
It was not all bad news though, as Sadek noted that the United Nations report contains some positive global trends, such as a decrease in fatalities resulting from floods, droughts and other disasters around the world, a significant drop that is directly attributed to the spread of warning systems against weather-related disasters.
While UNISDR coordinates the biennial Global Assessment Report, the data, research and analysis takes place through collaboration with many partners, including universities, scientific institutions, civil society organizations, United Nations agencies, development banks and individual experts.
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