ESCWA’s Cluster on Governance and Prevention conducted a workshop with Palestinian civil servants to design national development strategies, policies and programs that are risk informed. Civil servants included representatives from the Prime Minister’s office, ministries of economy, health, Jerusalem affairs, social development, education and higher education, environment, water, power, public works and housing, and other public institutions that comprise the national Palestinian Strategic Development Planning team.
Participants in the workshop, which took place between 15-17 February 2024 in Amman, worked on a methodology for risk-based policy making and planning amidst fragility and occupation. The methodology identified the drivers of high vulnerability and low resilience along three pathways, namely conflict, climate and development. The latter including social, economic and institutional risk domains. The workshop also entailed the articulation of various risk scenarios, in addition to translating drivers of high vulnerability and worst case crisis scenarios into policies that strengthen resilience.
The workshop drew from the ESCWA Risk Monitor, which was presented at the regional and national levels, and which identified the most concerning drivers of high vulnerability and low resilience that have evolved over the course of the last decade. The risk assessment for Palestine, which will be made available periodically by ESCWA to the Palestinian Planning and Policy Teams, will be one of the evidence based inputs designed to strengthen a more preventive or mitigation approach in policy formulation and programming. Another major recommendation of the workshop was to initiate a course of action that is dedicated towards the enhancement of strategic planning and risk-based public policies, and in particular as regards the necessary institutional capacities and processes towards that end.
Amman, Jordan
