The grant agreement of US$150,000 by the Swiss Government through the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) was signed today by the Swiss Ambassador to Jordan, H.E. Paul Widmer and UNDP Resident Representative in Jordan, Mr. Luc Stevens. 

 

The Swiss grant is in support of UNDP’s US$450,000 project “Support to Building National Capacities for Earthquake Risk Reduction at Amman Municipality in Jordan”.

 

In coordination with the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation and in partnership with the Greater Amman Municipality, the General Civil Defence Directorate and the Earthquakes and Megacities Initiative, the project was launched in December 2006. Its main objective is to strengthen the country’s capacity in dealing with natural hazard risk, which is still predominantly focused at the response stage and in need of strengthening in several areas to bring it more in line with contemporary risk reduction practices.

 

The project will equip the Greater Amman Municipality with a Disaster Risk Management Master Plan (DRMMP), to be anchored in a sound institutional framework. The DRMMP will ultimately provide a framework for disaster risk reduction which can be mainstreamed into the urban development planning process of the city of Amman.

 

SDC’s contribution will support the project’s component of engaging the communities and their governing bodies in disaster mitigation by enhancing their knowledge of the risk parameters through well designed training and educational programmes. The SDC will also support the development of a coalition of knowledgeable stakeholders whose collective contribution results in a safer community and environment.

 

In addition to the above project with UNDP, the SDC manages a regional Disaster Risk Reduction Program in cooperation with partners such as the Jordan Civil Defense, the Royal Scientific Society, and others with a total annual budget of approximately 1 million US Dollars. This programme represents a priority for SDC as it aims to reduce the vulnerability of the population in case of natural disasters.