Chief of Public Security inaugurates seventh Arab Coordination Meeting on Disaster Risk Reduction
Manama, Oct. 14 (BNA): Lieutenant-General Tariq Hassan Al Hassan, Chief of Public Security, inaugurated the seventh meeting of the Arab Coordination Mechanism for Disaster Risk Reduction, held at the Police Officers Club.
The meeting is organised by the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States, through its Directorate of Housing, Water Resources and Disaster Risk Reduction, with the participation of a group of experts and representatives of Arab, regional, and international organisations working in the fields of risk reduction, capacity-building, and community resilience.
The meeting, which runs from October 14 to 16, emphasised the importance of strengthening joint Arab action to confront disasters and build more resilient and sustainable communities. Several key initiatives will be presented, including the launch of the "Arab Comprehensive Early Warning Initiative", in cooperation with the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR). The initiative aims to connect Arab countries within an integrated early warning system covering various natural, technological, and environmental hazards, and to establish an Arab Geospatial Risk Network to facilitate real-time data sharing and analysis in support of decision-makers during disasters and crises, while enhancing information coordination among member states.
Other initiatives include developing an Arab framework for sustainable resilience financing, aimed at integrating the concept of "investment in prevention" into financial policies and national budgets to ensure the long-term sustainability of risk reduction programmes, and launching the "Resilient Arab Cities" Initiative, which encourages Arab municipalities to adopt sustainability and community preparedness standards, in cooperation with local and international partners, to promote safe and sustainable urban development.
These initiatives reflect the Arab vision of enhancing community resilience and building effective early warning and response systems in line with the global Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030. They also embody the Kingdom of Bahrain’s commitment and continued support for strengthening disaster risk reduction systems at the Arab and regional levels.
