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Tunisia Needs 550 Million Dinars to Reduce Disaster Risk

Tunisia's President Kais Saied shakes hands with newly appointed Tunisian Prime Minister Ahmed Hachani, in Tunis, Tunisia August 1, 2023. (Tunisian Presidency/Handout via Reuters)
Tunisia's President Kais Saied shakes hands with newly appointed Tunisian Prime Minister Ahmed Hachani, in Tunis, Tunisia August 1, 2023. (Tunisian Presidency/Handout via Reuters)
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Tunisia Needs 550 Million Dinars to Reduce Disaster Risk

Tunisia's President Kais Saied shakes hands with newly appointed Tunisian Prime Minister Ahmed Hachani, in Tunis, Tunisia August 1, 2023. (Tunisian Presidency/Handout via Reuters)
Tunisia's President Kais Saied shakes hands with newly appointed Tunisian Prime Minister Ahmed Hachani, in Tunis, Tunisia August 1, 2023. (Tunisian Presidency/Handout via Reuters)

The Tunisian government on Monday said it needs 550 million dinars to implement its national strategy of Disaster Risk Reduction (2018-2030).

“In order to achieve this objective, Tunisia has already started implementing the Integrated Program for Disaster Resilience with a budget of 360 million dinars,” said Prime Minister Ahmed Hachani in a speech read out by Minister of the Environment, Leila Chikhaoui, at the opening of the Arab-African Conference on Science and Technology for Disaster Risk Reduction.

He said the program aims to strengthen institutional coordination for the management of climate and disaster risks through the creation of a national platform for disaster risk reduction and the installation of an early warning system.

The PM reiterated the importance of working together in solidarity to support international efforts to protect human lives, property and infrastructure.

In the past few weeks, the North African region was hit by natural disasters that have wreaked havoc and chaos in Libya and Morocco.

Thousands died in Derna, eastern Libya, when torrents and floods - caused by powerful Storm Daniel, swept away entire neighborhoods and bodies into the sea.

A devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck southwestern Morocco last month, killing at least 3,000 people and leveling dozens of villages in a rugged mountainous area.

The Tunisian Minister of Environment and Local Development said her country will suffer annual losses of 427.8 million dinars ($138 million) if the national strategy for disaster risk reduction is not implemented.

“Tunisia is considered a country that is highly vulnerable to climate change and disasters due to its geographical location,” she stressed.

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Cyprus Can Help Rid Syria of Chemical Weapons, Search for its Missing, Says Top Diplomat

FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
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Cyprus Can Help Rid Syria of Chemical Weapons, Search for its Missing, Says Top Diplomat

FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah

Cyprus stands ready to help eliminate Syria’s remaining chemical weapons stockpiles and to support a search for people whose fate remains unknown after more than a decade of war, the top Cypriot diplomat said Saturday.

Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said Cyprus’ offer is grounded on its own past experience both with helping rid Syria of chemical weapons 11 years ago and its own ongoing, decades-old search for hundreds of people who disappeared amid fighting between Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriots in the 1960s and a 1974 Turkish invasion, The AP reported.

Cyprus in 2013 hosted the support base of a mission jointly run by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to remove and dispose of Syria's chemical weapons.

“As a neighboring country located just 65 miles from Syria, Cyprus has a vested interest in Syria’s future. Developments there will directly impact Cyprus, particularly in terms of potential new migratory flows and the risks of terrorism and extremism,” Kombos told The AP in written replies to questions.

Kombos said there are “profound concerns” among his counterparts across the region over Syria’s future security, especially regarding a possible resurgence of extremist groups like ISIS in a fragmented and polarized society.

“This is particularly critical in light of potential social and demographic engineering disguised as “security” arrangements, which could further destabilize the country,” Kombos said.

The diplomat also pointed to the recent proliferation of narcotics production like the stimulant Captagon that is interconnected with smuggling networks involved in people and arms trafficking.

Kombos said ongoing attacks against Syria’s Kurds must stop immediately, given the role that Kurdish forces have played in combating extremist forces like the ISIS group in the past decade.

Saleh Muslim, a member of the Kurdish Presidential Council, said in an interview that the Kurds primarily seek “equality” enshrined in rights accorded to all in any democracy.

He said a future form of governance could accord autonomy to the Kurds under some kind of federal structure.

“But the important thing is to have democratic rights for all the Syrians and including the Kurdish people,” he said.

Muslim warned that the Kurdish-majority city of Kobani, near Syria’s border with Türkiye, is in “very big danger” of falling into the hands of Turkish-backed forces, and accused Türkiye of trying to occupy it.

Kombos said the international community needs to ensure that the influence Türkiye is trying to exert in Syria is “not going to create an even worse situation than there already is.”

“Whatever the future landscape in Syria, it will have a direct and far-reaching impact on the region, the European Union and the broader international community,” Kombos said.