Droughts, extreme temperatures, and floods are just some of the natural hazards facing Jordan and its over 11 million citizens. Climate change has raised the specter that such hazards will become even more commonplace in the decades to come. 

The government of Jordan fully recognizes that realizing its aspirations for a brighter future for its citizens will require that the country put disaster risk management (DRM) front and center in its development agenda. GFDRR, in collaboration with technical teams from World Bank, has been working closely with the government to support its efforts to advance the country’s DRM capabilities, with an eye toward a more resilient future for all Jordanians. 

Drawing on their long-standing expertise and experience on the frontlines of resilience building, the facility and the World Bank jointly organized a three-day global knowledge workshop in Amman on June 19 to 21, 2023. The workshop covered three key areas of DRM: emergency preparedness and response (EP&R), strategic and crisis communication, and seismic risk and vulnerability. 

Over the course of the workshop, international DRM experts highlighted some of the cutting-edge initiatives and emerging best practices that have been successfully implemented in each of those key areas. For instance, the session on EP&R introduced a conceptual framework for institutionalizing and strengthening EP&R that covered the five pillars of personnel, information, facilities, equipment, and legal and institutional frameworks. 

Each of the workshop sessions provided participants with the opportunity not only to listen to the experts but also to actively engage with the material in a way that placed what they learned in the context of Jordan’s DRM landscape. For example, during the session on seismic risk and vulnerability, participants’ learnings were put to the test when they dove into an earthquake simulation for Amman that covered multiple scenarios—including settings prior, during, and after a seismic event. 

Overall, the workshop saw the participation of over 100 officials, representing upwards of a dozen DRM-related bodies and agencies, including the Municipality of Greater Amman, the Ministry of Interior, Civil Defense, the National Center for Security and Crises Management, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Local Administration. 

Many of the participants are already drawing on lessons learned from the workshop to drive and inform concrete actions toward advancing Jordan’s DRM capabilities. With support from GFDRR and the World Bank, the Municipality of Greater Amman is moving forward with an EP&R assessment—the first ever at the city level— in an effort that is expected to inform a short- and medium-term DRM action plan for the Jordanian capital. Subsequently, GFDRR and the World Bank will support a seismic risk assessment and a crisis communication workshop for the city, both of which will also draw on lessons learned from the workshop. 

The June 2023 workshop is only the latest knowledge exchange jointly organized by GFDRR and the World Bank in Jordan. In the previous fiscal year, a workshop attended by over 40 participants focused on international best practices on DRM analytics, tools, and assessments.