United Nations Development Program
Disaster Risk Reduction
Syria
Athens High School
Delegate: Areeb Islam
According to the UNISDR, people in low and middle income nations are 7 times more likely to die from natural disasters than people living in developed nations. In the past 20 years, 4.5 billion people have been affected by natural disasters. The global economic impact of these disasters has equated to a net total of around 2.9 trillion dollars in losses. Extreme weather events account for almost 77% of economic losses. Haiti, in accordance to being one of the poorest countries in the world, recorded one of the highest losses in 2017, reporting a 17.5 percent loss in GDP.
Syria, like other countries, may be prone to major flooding’s and earthquakes. According to a probabilistic analysis of potential risks, if an earthquake or flood were to occur, losses would total 263 million dollars. Most economic losses in Syria in the past 20 years have been a result of, heat waves, and rain. 71.3% of natural disaster economic losses have been because of heat waves and rain. As Syria is already a war ravaged nation, and the government has lost 200 billion dollars in money, any form of natural disaster would only add to the already heavy conflict facing Syria. As many homes and buildings have been destroyed, natural disasters would stunt our hopes of rebuilding Syria.
Syria believes that potential solutions to the issues of natural disasters will include potential programs in teaching citizens about how to prepare in the case of a natural disaster. Implementing warning systems and safe zones, with medical stations to treat the wounded, will also help to save a lot of lives of the citizens. Improvements in the infrastructure of homes and hospitals will be very beneficial, as due to the repeated bombings and terrorist attacks imposed by ISIS have caused many citizens to be injured. Syria hopes that a collective effort is made to prevent casualties related to natural disasters in the future.
- Areeb Islam
