The wife of the Dubai’s ruler, Princess Haya, was one of the key speakers at the “2009 UN Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction,” held in Manama, Bahrain on Sunday.
- Reuters
The gathering focused on how the Persian Gulf is at high risk for disaster following events such as tsunamis, earthquakes and cyclones.
“In terms of practical assistance,” said Haya, the half-sister of Jordan’s King Abdullah II. “I would like to call for a global structural assessment of all schools and hospitals, the first 50 per cent to be completed by the end of 2010 and the remainder by the end of 2011. As recently witnessed in Italy, doctors were forced to operate in the open air and schools, a natural shelter in times of trouble, were rendered unusable.”
A recent study shows many of the Gulf states, including the United Arab Emirates, are susceptible to drought. Meanwhile, Yemen and Oman are in harm’s way in case a tsunami happens.
The Princess also said the possibility of natural disasters only add the growing list of problems in many of the world’s countries, such as education and poverty.
“It’s hard to motivate political leaders to focus on preventive measures to face possible disasters, because politically it’s difficult under the normal circumstances to convince the people of the benefits of such investments to face things which might not take place,” she said.
She also proposed a global safety review of schools and hospitals to be completed within two years.
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