Urgent Capacity Development for Managing Natural Disaster Risks of Flash Floods in Egypt, Jordan, Sudan and Yemen
Many regions in Egypt, Yemen, Jordan and Sudan are subjected to deadly flash floods and landslides, resulting from intense rainfall of a relatively short duration. The four targeted countries are in dire need of technical support and national capacities to identify remedial measures that address the unpredictability of flash floods and lay effective responsive emergency plans that can significantly reduce their wrath. Within the framework of UNESCO-Japan Fund-In-Trust Cooperation, the Japanese Government supported the project entitled: Urgent Capacity Development for Managing Natural Disaster Risks of Flash Floods in Egypt, Jordan, Sudan and Yemen with 500,000 US$ (May 2015-December 2016) with an overall objective to reduce the economic losses and fatalities resulting from these flash floods through building national and regional capacities for early warning effective emergency responses. The project is a joint collaboration between UCO/DRR and IHP of UNESCO Cairo.
This project produced a repository of best practices of flash floods risk management through the study of a pilot hotspot in each of the four countries, replicable and expandable at the national and regional levels. The project successfully developed the capacity for Managing Natural Disaster Risks of Flash Floods in Egypt, Jordan, Sudan and Yemen to:
· evaluate current status of Flash Flood Risk
· develop Risk Management Plans
· enhance participatory approach in managing Flash Flood Risk with involvement if local communities
Four pilot hot spots were identified based on an initial assessment study. National coordinators were nominated by the UNESCO National Commissions in the four countries to ensure the smooth implementation of the project activities in the four countries.
It can be pointed out that the project has laid the foundation for integrated flash flood management in the four hotspots, in particular, and the four participating countries, in general. The enhanced capacity building and the produced technical deliverables, together with the awareness campaigns and awareness material developed, have enhanced the project visibility to a greater extent and reflected the generous technical and financial contribution of the government of Japan to the participating countries in managing disaster risks of flash floods.