What is urban resilience? Urban resilience is the ability of a city’s community to adapt to a variety of shocks and risks ranging from natural disasters to social, economic, political and cultural changes.
What is urban resilience? Urban resilience is the ability of a city’s community to adapt to a variety of shocks and risks ranging from natural disasters to social, economic, political and cultural changes.
Each year, natural disasters kill thousands of people and cause billions of dollars in economic losses. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are not immune to these effects. The region is exposed to a growing number of shocks and hazards that affect the stability and growth of its cities.
The interplay of climate change, population density, conflict and water scarcity has intensified the risk of natural disasters such as drought, flooding and earthquakes in the region. Over the last 30 years, these events have affected approximately 40 million people in MENA countries and have cost their economies about US$20 billion.
Conflict in the region has inflicted great damage to human lives and physical infrastructure. It is estimated that about half a million people have been killed, while fifteen million have had to abandon their homes. Urban areas have been particularly affected by the conflict, and cities are facing significant service delivery pressure due to physical damage, as well as the influx of a high number of displaced people.
To tackle these questions, the Municipality of Beirut, in collaboration with the World Bank Group, is organizing the MENA Regional Urban Resilience Conference. The event will be held under the Patronage of His Excellency Mr. Saad Hariri, President of the Council of Ministers.
The conference will bring together city- and national-level decision makers, including mayors, technical experts and other shareholders from 13 MENA countries: Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Tunisia, West Bank-Gaza and Yemen.
The Conference will offer its participants the opportunity to exchange views on the challenges facing their cities and identify possible solutions and ways to collaborate in the future. Beyond the MENA region, other cities will be represented and their experiences will be showcased during the conference.
Specifically, the Conference will:
DAY 1: TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2019 | ||
08:15 – 08:45 | Conference Registration | |
09:00 - 11:00 | Opening and Session 1 | The Importance of Resilience in Urban Growth and Regeneration | |
Welcome Addresses Mr. Jamal Itani, Mayor of Beirut, Lebanon Dr. Sameh Naguib Wahba, Director, Social, Urban, Rural, and Resilience Global Practice (SURR GP), WBG H.E. Ms. Raya El Hassan, Minister of Interior, Lebanon Prof. Jamal Saghir, Professor, McGill University; Affiliated Scholar, IFI, American University of Beirut Dr. Sameh Naguib Wahba, Director, Social, Urban, Rural, and Resilience Global Practice (SURR GP), WBG Dr. Sameh Naguib Wahba, Director, SURR GP, WBG Ms. Kazuko Ishigaki, Director for Disaster Preparedness, Disaster Management Bureau, Cabinet Office, Japan Dr. Youssef AlShawarbeh, Mayor of Amman, Jordan Ms. Elizabeth Yee, Vice President, Resilience Finance, 100 Resilient Cities Mr. Phil Karp, Lead Knowledge Specialist, WBG | ||
11:00 - 11:10 | Beirut Resilience Strategy Launch Ms. Matilda Khoury, Councilor, Municipal Council of Beirut, Lebanon | |
11:10 - 11:30 | Coffee Break | |
11:30 - 12:45 | Session 2 | Resilience Frameworks for Investment Decisions | |
| Ms. Elizabeth Yee, Vice President, Resilience Finance, 100 Resilient Cities Mr. Sébastien Maire, Chief Resilience Officer, Paris, France Dr. Arturo Dominici Arosemena, Chief Resilience Officer, Panama City, Panama Ms. Bilge Cakir, Investment Officer, International Finance Corporation (IFC), MENA, WBG Dr. Wafa Charafeddine, Head of Funding Division, Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR) Dr. Josef Leitmann, Lead Disaster Risk Management (DRM) Specialist, Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR), WBG | |
12:45 – 13:30 | Lunch | |
13:30 – 15:00 | Session 3 | Collaboration between Local, National, and International Actors | |
Mr. Sujit Kumar Mohanty, Chief of the Arab States Regional Office, UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) Ms. Hart Ford, Director, ACTED Lebanon Dr. Josef Leitmann, Lead DRM Specialist, GFDRR, WBG Moderator Dr. Sameh Naguib Wahba, Director, SURR GP, WBG | ||
15:00 – 15:15 | Coffee Break | |
15:15 – 16:30 | Session 4 | The Way Forward | |
Keynote Address Ms. Kazuko Ishigaki, Director for Disaster Preparedness, Disaster Management Bureau, Cabinet Office, Japan Panelists Mr. Jamal Itani, Mayor of Beirut, Lebanon Dr. Sameh Naguib Wahba, Director, SURR GP, WBG Mr. Sébastien Maire, Chief Resilience Officer, Paris, France Dr. Sufyan Al-Issa, Regional Head of Operations, IFC, MENA, WBG Ms. Souad Abderrahim, Mayor of Tunis, Tunisia Moderator Ms. Dana Omran, Managing Director for Africa, 100 Resilient Cities Mr. Jamal Itani, Mayor of Beirut, Lebanon Dr. Sameh Naguib Wahba, Director, SURR GP, WBG | ||
17:00 – 19:00 | Site Visit – Downtown Beirut | |
DAY 2: WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3, 2019 | ||
09:00 - 10:00 | Session 5 | City Challenges and Risks | |
Ms. Isabel Margarita Cantada, City Scans, WBG Dr. Ali Al-Hemoud, Research Scientist, Kuwait Institute of Scientific Research Mr. Tony Sfeir, Chief Resilience Officer, Byblos, Lebanon | ||
10:00 - 11:00 | Session 6 | Designing, Prioritizing, and Implementing Your Strategy | |
| Mr. Sébastien Maire, Chief Resilience Officer, Paris, France Ms. Ana Ardelean, Chief Resilience Officer, Tbilisi, Georgia Mr. Anton Salman, Mayor of Bethlehem, Palestine Ms. Dana Omran, Managing Director, City Resilience Delivery - Africa, 100 Resilient Cities Moderator Dr. Josef Leitmann, Lead DRM Specialist, GFDRR, WBG | |
11:00 – 11:15 | Coffee Break | |
11:15 – 12:15 | Session 6 (Continued) | Designing, Prioritizing, and Implementing Your Strategy | |
| Mr. Eric Wilson, Deputy Director, Land Use and Buildings, New York City, USA Dr. Arturo Dominici Arosemena, Chief Resilience Officer, Panama City, Panama Dr. Nabil S. Itani, Project Manager, Cultural Heritage and Urban Development (CHUD) Project, CDR Dr. Josef Leitmann, Lead DRM Specialist, GFDRR, WBG Ms. Dana Omran, Managing Director, City Resilience Delivery - Africa, 100 Resilient Cities | |
12:15 – 13:15 | Breakout Session: Shift and Share Cities to identify and discuss individual challenges and lessons learned | |
| Moderator Mr. Phil Karp, Lead Knowledge Management Specialist, SURR GP, WBG | |
13:15 – 14:00 | Lunch | |
14:00 – 15:30 | Session 7 | Financing Urban Resilience | |
| Mr. Steven Rubinyi, Disaster Risk Management (DRM) Specialist, WBG | |
15:30 – 15:50 | Coffee Break and Cultural Bingo | |
15:50 –17:30 | Session 8 | Social Resilience and Youth | |
| Ms. Nisreen Alaraj, Chief Resilience Officer, Greater Amman, Jordan Mr. Abdullahi Ali Watiin, Mayor, Baidoa, Somalia Mr. Saed Zawahrah, Zarqa City Youth Council, Jordan Ms. Cynthia Bakkalian, WB Youth Advisory Group, Lebanon Mr. Behzad Ali Adam, Deputy Governor, Dohuk governorate, Iraq/Kurdistan Regional Government Ms. Khadije Nasser, Senior Regional Manager, Strong Cities Network Ms. Naila Ahmed, Senior Social Development Specialist, WBG | |
DAY 3: THURSSDAY, APRIL 4, 2019 | ||
09:00 - 10:00 | Breakout Session: Shift and Share Cities to identify and discuss resilience challenges and lessons learned | |
| Moderator Mr. Phil Karp, Lead Knowledge Management Specialist, SURR GP, WBG | |
10:00 - 11:00 | Session 9A | Water and Agriculture Prof. Ezio Todini, Consultant, WBG
| Session 9B | Housing Ms. Sarah Antos, Data Scientist, Global Program for Resilient Housing, WBG Mr. Eric Wilson, Deputy Director, Land Use and Buildings, New York, USA Dr. Ede Jorge Ijjasz-Vasquez, Senior Director, SURR GP, WBG |
11:00 – 11:15 | Coffee Break | |
11:15 - 12:15 | Session 10A | Nature-Based Solutions for City Resilience Dr. Arturo Dominici Arosemena, Chief Resilience Officer, Panama City, Panama
| Session 10B | Competitive Cities Mr. Jade Sahlab, Senior Private Sector Specialist, WBG Ms. Zina Bdeir Dajani, Founder & CEO, Antwork Ms. Amira Solh, Urban and Cultural Heritage Planning Consultant Mr. Karim Chaya, Managing Partner, Abillama Chaya Industrial Design
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12:15 - 12:35 | Reporting Back | |
12:35 – 13:30 | Reflection Session on Technical Communique | |
| Moderator Dr. Josef Leitmann, Lead DRM Specialist, GFDRR, WBG | |
13:30 – 14:30 | Presentation of the Technical Communique and Closing of the Conference | |
| Closing remarks Dr. Ede Jorge Ijjasz-Vasquez, Senior Director, SURR GP, WBG Mr. Saroj Kumar Jha, Regional Director, Mashreq, WBG Mr. Jamal Itani, Mayor, Beirut, Lebanon | |
 | Middle East and North Africa Regional Urban Resilience Conference- Proceedings Report [PDF] |
The MENA Regional Urban Resilience Conference followed the development of Phase I of Beirut’s urban resilience master plan, bringing together 49 municipal and national representatives from 13 countries and territories across the MENA region (Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Tunisia, West Bank-Gaza and Yemen) as well as resilience experts and practitioners from developed and developing countries beyond the region (France, Georgia, India, Italy, Japan, Panama, and the United States).
In concluding the conference, delegates authored a collaborative summation of the scope of urban resilience as it pertains to cities in the MENA region. This technical communique distilled both the conference participants’ shared understanding of urban resilience challenges, and their agreed practical recommendations for pursuing resilience goals.