The General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers in Gaza has approved the Crisis and Disaster Management Center, affiliated with the Faculty of Science at the Islamic University of Gaza, as a member of the government committee for disasters and crises. This decision was issued on March 26, 2023, and designated 15 government departments, in addition to the Islamic University represented by the Crisis and Disaster Management Center, as members of the government committee for disasters and crises under the presidency of the Ministry of Local Government. A subsequent decision was issued by the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers on April 6, 2023, appointing Dr. Ziad Hassan Abu Hain, Director of the Crisis and Disaster Management Center, as a member of this committee.
The decision stated that the committee’s tasks are to analyze various and expected risks, develop national plans for interventions, response, and recovery for all emergency situations, update the national framework for disaster management and response, prepare detailed studies on all hazards and disasters that may occur, develop training plans and programs for national cadres working in the field of crisis and emergency management, as well as draft laws and regulations for dealing with crises and disasters. The decision also includes conducting a scientific study on the earthquake impact scale on buildings in the Gaza Strip, their resistance to earthquakes, and a geological study of the Gaza Strip.
Dr. Bishr Eqilan, Dean of the Faculty of Science, expressed his happiness at the center’s membership in the government committee for disasters and crises, indicating that this membership is an expression of the importance and role of the Crisis and Disaster Management Center at the Islamic University, its effective contributions in this field and other areas in serving the local community, and appreciation for science and scientists, raising the profile of the Faculty of Science and the Islamic University in Gaza.
Dr. Ziad Abu Hain, Director of the Crisis and Disaster Management Center, explained that the center’s approval as a member of the government committee for disasters and crises came as a result of many sessions and workshops with government agencies related to crisis and disaster management and the center’s scientific and practical expertise in the field of crisis and disaster management. He added that the center was established in 2016 by a decision of the Faculty of Science’s Council to be a leading center in the field of crisis and disaster management, where the center has implemented dozens of activities, training courses, workshops, and scientific conferences and has a prominent role in the local community and a regional and international presence through its winning of the BeGreen project from Erasmus international program.
