Middle East and North Africa

In FY17, GFDRR supported activities in more than 8 countries in the Middle East and North Africa. These activities leveraged $59 million in development finance.

In Middle East and North Africa, drought, flooding and earthquakes continue to threaten the economies and people of many countries. While the number of natural disasters around the world has almost doubled since the 1980s, in Middle East and North Africait has almost tripled. Water scarcity, climate change and rapid urbanization have aggravated the impact of natural hazards in a region where 3 percent of its surface area is home to 92 percent of the population.

Historically, most countries in the Middle East and North Africa have approached disaster risk management focusing on post-disaster relief and recovery activities. Governments across the region are trying to change that, and recent years have seen the establishment of a number of national-level disaster risk management units, early warning systems, preparedness plans, and national risk assessments.

GFDRR is working to improve public understanding of hazard risks while ensuring that ministries and municipalities are part of the discussion on growing national disaster risk management needs. It is also stepping up its work in this region by expanding risk assessment, urban resilience and risk reduction efforts in Algeria, Djibouti, Egypt, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, West Bank and Gaza, and Yemen. In Djibouti, for example, the GFDRR program has established a risk assessment and communication platform to include risk considerations in decision making, and has leveraged over $40 million from multiple donors in the past seven years for risk reduction efforts. In Morocco, GFDRR is helping the government develop an integrated management approach to tackle the risks from natural hazards, the agriculture production, and commodity price volatility.