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Arab Network for Environment & Development (RAED) is an Arab body that enjoys the legal entity and with being financially and morally independent is completely eligible to run its activities and achieve its goals.
Many societies concerned with the environment and sustainable development from different Arab Countries have acceded to RAED: (Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Sudan, Egypt, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Iraq, UAE, Yemen and Saudi Arabia)
In 1995, the League of Arab States recognized RAED and designated it to be observant in the Council of Arab Ministers responsible for the Environment. Accordingly it participates with the Technical General Secretariat of the Council of Arab Ministers by a delegate to attend all the meetings held by RAED, as well as in the Board of Director meetings.
At the international level, UN approved designating RAED the advisory capacity in the Economic Social Council of the General Assembly since 1996.
Objectives of RAED
RAED aims at developing, improving and coordinating the work of its members, to tighten bonds of cooperation between them, and to contribute in achieving the environmental and developmental integration between them, as follows:
1. Exchanging environmental information among RAED members, so as to allow the members to benefit from various experiences at the Arab level, in a bid to solve environmental problems.
2. Preparing and drafting proposals concerning the implementation of some environmental projects by RAED members, and acting on finding sources of funding thereof.
3. Working on the establishment of communication channels between NGOs at the international level on one hand, and the Arab NGOs participating in the Network on the other, to safeguard the Arab presence in the international arena.
4. Developing training and orientation programmes to raise the efficiency of officers in RAED’s sphere of activities.
5. Participating in the Arab & international symposia and conferences, if their themes are of relevance to RAED’s activities.
6. Providing the latest information and statistics related to RAED’s activities, to serve as references to all its members.
7. Meeting the members’ needs in terms of technical and administrative cadres, through realizing exchanges between them.
8. Supporting RAED through the League of Arab States, the UN organisations and other international bodies.
9. Fundraising to carry out some projects, either embracing the Arab world as a whole, or projects specific to each Arab State respectively.
10. Advancing dialogue between Arab State authorities and their international counterparts, as well as ministries and organs concerned with the environment in the Arab world and the League of Arab States.
Promoting and Awareness:
• Held a national workshop for RAED member in the region, inviting all the concerned parties.
Coordinating:
• Establishing a national committee related to the project for data collection, studies and research, and information exchange.
• Collecting all the institutional data “through RAED members” in the field of disaster risk reduction.
Integration:
• Integrating the DRR into the activities of RAED network members, leading to raising awareness in local communities, government, and private sector.
Strength and weakness assessment:
• Establishing a national committee consisting of NGOs and leading experts in RAED to identify the hotspots in all participating countries.
Training:
• Building capacity of local community for adapting disaster risk reduction.
Education:
• Integrating the concept of DRR into the extracurricular activities in schools (School groups, extra).
Capacity building and training:
• Implementing training programs, workshops, and capacity building for local communities (young people – school students – Women - NGOs) on disaster risk reduction and it impacts.
Awareness and dissemination:
• Participation of RAED organization members in the Arab region to celebrate the “Arab Disaster Day”.
• Publishing the news and activities of the Arab Strategy for Disaster Reduction through “Motada el Beaah” newsletter which is issued by the Arab Network for Environment and Development “RAED”.
Arab Communities Adapting to Climate Change project
The Arab region is particularly vulnerable to climate change. It is one of the most water-scarce and dry regions in the world, with many citizens dependent on climate-sensitive agricultural activities and a large portion of the population and economic activity based in flood-prone urban coastal zones. When climate change disasters occur, local communities will be hit hardest and need to be prepared to respond accordingly.
In order to plan for long-lasting sustainable change, civil society will need to understand the challenges posed by climate change, be involved in the design of solutions and embrace the responsibility of implementing these solutions.
To address this need, RAED has launched the “Arab Communities Adapting to Climate Change” program, a first-of-its kind in the MENA region to build the capacity of local Arab communities to adapt to climate change.
PARTNERS
A key success factor is strong partner involvement which brings financial sponsorship, technical expertise, project support and best practices to the program. Current partners include The Presidency of Meteorology and Environment in Saudi Arabia, United Nations Office for Disaster Reduction (UNDRR), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), International Water Association (IWA) and Arab Countries Water Utilities Association (ACWUA). RAED invites you to become a program partner today!
OBJECTIVES
1.Assess the disaster risk associated with climate change and capacitate communities to better adapt to and reduce these risks.
2.Produce applicable, practical adaptation models to address climate change risks.
3.Partner with national, regional and international entities that can provide technical expertise, best practices and financial support.
PROGRAM STRUCTURE
RAED will manage the overall project, including coordination with the NPCs and LPCs.
A full-time project coordinator and assistant are committed.
The NPC will design the participatory process and criteria by which the National Project Strategy (NPS) will select the local partners and hotspots.
The LPC is responsible for the implementation at the local level and, in coordination with the NPC, will agree on a set of activities to be carried out to implement the National Project Strategy, to include: awareness raising, data collection, studies and research, documentation, knowledge sharing and capacity building.
Partners and participants are sought for all activities.
EXPECTED OUTPUTS
Each country will produce the following outputs:
•National workshop to launch the multi-stakeholder program.
•National Disaster Risk Reduction report.
•National legislative and public policy recommendations.
•Three local action plans (one per hot-spot).
•Awareness campaign targeting and educating hundreds of local community, government, utility and private sector players.
The Sendai Framework Voluntary Commitments (SFVC) online platform allows stakeholders to inform the public about their work on DRR. The SFVC online platform is a useful toolto know who is doing what and where for the implementation of the Sendai Framework, which could foster potential collaboration among stakeholders. All stakeholders (private sector, civil society organizations, academia, media, local governments, etc.) working on DRR can submit their commitments and report on their progress and deliverables.