20 June 2009

BEIRUT: Despite a history of being at the epicenter of disasters - both man-made and natural - Lebanon remains one of the world's worst performers when it comes to disaster preparedness and recovery capacity. According to an international study conducted by World Vision, Lebanon registered an overall score of 1.79 on a five- point scale, based on a survey of 160 questionnaires by government officials and civil society representatives.

For the report, civil society and government officials from the Bekaa, Akkar, Bsharri, Beirut, and Marjayoun (the most vulnerable areas in Lebanon) were surveyed and interviewed.

The report chronicled eight major cases of disasters over the past 35 years, starting with the 1975-90 Civil War and ending with a series of wild fires in 2007. It also highlights the lack of education on disaster and disaster relief in schools in a country where small- to mid-scale disasters are frequent, and large-scale disasters a constant peril.

Lebanon's 1.79 score was based on an average performance in six areas: governance, risk assessment and monitoring, knowledge and education, underlying risk factors, disaster preparedness, with the highest rating coming in the cross-cutting issues category. The study identified the absence of a culture that promotes prevention as one of the possible reasons for this poor record.

The disappointing findings came from a study on disaster prevention, presented by World Vision Lebanon on Friday at the Holiday Inn in Verdun.

The workshop reviewed the findings on its "Views From the Frontlines" project, inspired by the United Nations Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA).

The Hyogo Framework was the first attempt at involving local stakeholders in the disaster prevention implementation process. Established in 2005 after the Asian tsunami, it is the first attempt at aligning policy created in political-centers with the realities of the periphery.

The framework begin when over 169 governments pledged to make disaster-risk reduction a priority; it aims for substantial disaster reduction by 2015.

The framework stresses that it is not only the state, but also the responsibility of the regional and the international organization to develop and coordinate preventive measures.

Despite its good intentions, the Hyogo Framework initially ran the risk of being shelved as too theoretical, as it was introduced to many countries where the concept of sustainable disaster-risk reduction alone is a novel concept.

What World Vision's "Views From the Frontline" aims to do is bridge this gap. Designed to provide the local perspective in implementing the Hyogo Framework, "Views" aims to mobilize over 400 civil-society groups through the Global Network of Civil Society Organizations for Disaster Reduction, spanning 48 countries, to measure the effectiveness of the framework.

There are also substantial disparities across continents and regions in terms of progress, with Asia and Central America registering the highest scores, and Africa and the Middle East the lowest.

Furthermore, the "Views" identifies a lack of resources as "one of the main constraints to progress," and points out that a wealth of untapped resources can be found at the local level. By advocating a participatory approach as the key to unlocking the potential of local resources, "Views" aims to empower the civil society so that it can play a more prominent role in community engagement.

It states that despite a lack of coordination on the government level, there exists a wealth of Lebanese non-governmental organizations with full capacity to address disaster-risk reduction.

It also identifies the educated and qualified Lebanese population as a valuable asset for capacity building and sustainable development.

Copyright The Daily Star 2009.