Climate change is one of the major problems we face today.

It may lead to the permanent flooding of low-lying regions and the disruption of potable water supply to millions around the world as the ice-packs in the mountains shrink and deplete the water reserves of major population centers. It may also lead to the decline in oil and gas supplies as hydro-carbon reserves peak and the price of energy increases exponentially. These events would have an extreme affect on our world.

But climate change may also cause, directly or indirectly, deep fractures in world trade and commerce that would likely result in political tensions and armed conflict among religious, ethnic, and cultural communities across the world. Ending extreme poverty is impossible without tackling climate change. A few months away from the defining Climate Change negotiations in Paris, now is the time to face the defining challenge of our generation.

[video:https://vimeo.com/128639704]

 

"Communication has becoming the glue, the cement of all we do in everyday life, and especially when it comes tackling major global issues, such as climate change."

Whereas in the past, we were able to increase food production over a few cropping cycles, or establish income generating ventures in a couple of years, the “new” problems we face may take years, and in the case of climate change, several generations for the world community to resolve.

How do we build consensus and muster the altruistic intent of the present generation to consume less, de-escalate conflict, and subject ourselves to research so that future generations who will exist long after we are gone may inherit a habitable planet?

The tried and tested methods of agriculture extension, social mobilization, community participation, and multi-lateral negotiation are unlikely to succeed on their own as these systemic problems grow in their severity and people submit to innate human instincts for self-preservation and compete even more keenly for rapidly dwindling natural resources, ratchet-up violence, hoard energy and water, and close markets to international commerce.

We do not have appropriate strategies to begin addressing these “new” and highly complex challenges. 

At the 2012 edition of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the background report on the global risks our world faces clearly stated that three common, crosscutting observations from the varied groups of experts consulted:

* Decision-makers need to improve understanding of incentives that will improve collaboration in response to global risks;

* Trust, or lack of trust, is perceived to be a crucial factor in how risks may manifest themselves. In particular, this refers to confidence, or lack thereof, in leaders, in the systems which ensure public safety and in the tools of communication that are revolutionizing how we share and digest information;

* Communication and information sharing on risks must be improved by introducing greater transparency about uncertainty and conveying it to the public in a meaningful way.

Jan Servaes (PhD, 1987, Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium) is Chair Professor in the Department of Media and Communication at the City University of Hong Kong and UNESCO Chair in Communication for Sustainable Social Change. Servaes has undertaken research, development, and advisory work around the world and is known as the author of journal articles and books on such topics as international and development communication; ICT and media policies; intercultural communication and language; and participation and social change.

This morning we ran across two articles covering two different aspects of the climate change debate. Or should we say, two articles highlighting two very divergent realities about climate change. It is important to note that the climate change debate between scientists is a much different conversation than the conversation between those affected by climate change.

On one hand, most scientists have the luxury of empirical data upon which to base their arguments, either in defense or in denial of the phenomena. On the flip side, those affected by climate change most often live the experience of climate change. Their anecdotal contribution to the debate is very much passed over for lack of scientifically verifiable data. This creates a valley of misunderstanding where both sides are speaking past each other and not really putting the two sides of the debate on a equal pitch.

Here's a look at the two articles:

The first one is a prime example of what one normally sees in the climate change debate, highly-educated Western academics and practitioners locked into a battle of intellectual one-upmanship. In this case, Germany's Spiegel publication sits down with long-time activist Fritz Vahrenholt on his new book, The Cold Sun, in which he disputes that CO2 and man-made GHG as the major and sole contributors to climate change.

Today, I want new scientific findings to be included in the climate debate. It would then become clear that the simple equation that CO2 and other manmade greenhouse gases are almost exclusively responsible for climate change is unsustainable.

According to the interview, Vahrenholt asserts that global warming isn't happening, and that in fact, there's a global cooling period that is about to begin.

The whole Q&A session with Spiegel is a riveting exchange of equally matched intellectuals dancing around dissenting conclusions. However, it is important not to dismiss Vahrenholt simply as a climate denier. As a respected scientist in Germany's energy sector, his counter argument to the seemingly single story on climate change is going to carry a lot of weight and perhaps open a whole new chapter to the climate change debate. Vahrenholt, it seems, is aiming for this as an outcome.

"It hasn't gotten any warmer on this planet in almost 14 years, despite continued increases in CO2 emissions. Established climate science has to come up with an answer to that."

The second article was a pictorial featured on the BBC Africa website: In pictures: Making charcoal from Liberian rubber trees. The first thing you notice about this pictorial is that, the images tell the story, instead of the people in the images. The images tell the story of the after-market of rubber trees, a major industry in Liberia, that are cut down after every 25 years. The local population harvests the fallen trees and manufactures charcoal, the preferred energy source for most of the country. According to the captions, Liberia relies mostly on wood for it's access to energy. Only 1% of the country has access to modern clean fuels, the lowest in the world.

This is a polar contrast to Germany, with it's vast array of clean energy resources including wind, solar, nuclear, and hydro-electric. So vast that Vahrenholt casts off solar energy as not suitable for Germany. To Vahrenholt, solar should be relegated to developing markets. "Wind power and biomass are fine in Germany, but no solar panels, please! They're better off in Africa and southern Europe." Must be nice to have an abundance of choices.

The framing of the two discourses is also telling of the current state of the debate. On one hand, the intellectuals get the microphone to wax poetic in defense of their purview. Those at the bottom of the climate change pyramid are most often depicted through someone else's lens and are never part of an equal conversation. They are the users, the affected, and the statistical collateral damage of a polarizing debate.

What happens when the debates become about the people, and less about the science and cyclical anomalies? What happens when these rubber tree scavengers (call them recyclers really) become the center of conversation? Sure, keep science as the tent poles for reasoned policy, but centered around people-centric holistic solutions geared at sustainable development. Does the outcome of the debate change if we reverse course and look at the issue through a human lens? Climate change scientists (not surprisingly) defer on man's contribution to climate change in the grand scheme of the Earth's climate cycles, some dating back thousands of years before man's started producing GHGs.

The UN's Zero Draft documents is heavy on language calling for inclusive sustainable development, where all participants get equal participation and contribution. The document also highlights the need to connect the two spheres of the conversation by maximizing the use of ICT as a tool for development communication. Easier access to information for those at the bottom of the climate change pyramid could facilitate equal discourse between those that have the knowledge and solutions and those lacking climate change facts, data, and research.

@Connect4Climate~Due to high illiteracy levels (75%). Climate Change may seem an alien word to many pple in my locality!

— Abdisalan Ahmed (@Abdisalan_Ahmed) February 8, 2012

ICTs coincidentally, also address a little talked about barrier to a level discourse. As one of our social media followers, Abdisalan Ahmed from Kenya, pointed out on Twitter that "due to high illiteracy levels (75%). Climate Change may seem an alien word to many pple in my locality!"

What do you think, could the use of ICTs help close this gap?

The authors explore the many successful strategies and measures for climate resilience and low carbon development that communities and leaders have pursued at the subnational level. They draw on the rich and practical experiences of CDKN’s project partners and the broader ICLEI network.

They argue that the battle for climate compatible development will be won or lost in provinces, districts and cities. There are distinct challenges at subnational level– for example, future climate data for local and subnational levels is more uncertain than at larger scales, and subnational decision-makers face intense local pressure to act on the negative impacts of climate extremes and disasters. There are also unique opportunities. Subnational decision-makers often have a sound understanding of climate trends in their area, based on first-hand experience and local and indigenous knowledge. They have a good sense of solutions that are effective in the local context and they have the ability to mobilise local resources for implementation, including people’s time and knowledge.

Effective strategies for subnational climate compatible development respond to these challenges and build on these opportunities. Such strategies:

● use flexible modes of decision-making available at the subnational level to go beyond national mandates for climate compatible development and to innovate solutions.

● raise the awareness of climate ‘champions’ in subnational government and bolster their climate leadership.

● build a strong case for action through effective, locally relevant communications about climate change impacts and the benefits of low-carbon, climate-resilient development.

● mobilise local expertise and support including in-kind resources, and forge alliances among civil society, businesses, researchers (including climate scientists), government decision-makers and civil servants.

● secure additional resources from outside the locality where necessary.

CDKN’s and ICLEI’s programme experience demonstrates that these strategies yield promising results at the subnational level. However, the scale of the global climate challenge is huge. Alone, individual subnational initiatives do not achieve enough. It will take a global transformation in the way that society approaches development if we are to achieve a low-carbon, climate-resilient future. Successful subnational climate compatible strategies must be rapidly scaled up and scaled out to meet this challenge.

The paper will be launched at CDKN’s session ‘Tackling Poverty and Climate Change in Cities‘ at the World Urban Forum in Medellin, Colombia on 10 April 2014.

Download the full copy of the paper: Close to home: Subnational strategies for climate compatible development.

[video:https://vimeo.com/142404010]

 

An intimate dialogue promoted by Connect4Climate, a global climate change communication program founded by the World Bank and the Italian Ministry of Environment, took place on the Chile Pavilion at EXPO Milan. The Chile Pavilion, hosts of the discussion on sustainability in universal exhibitions, achieved 3 out of 4 categories of the "Towards a Sustainable EXPO" award, on October the 13th.

The event was an opportunity to share experiences and know-how among stakeholders from different industries and sectors on their roles in advancing sustainability. The discussion highlighted the importance of events like this in the fight against climate change - see participants here.

“There is not just an agreement, people are starting to connect together, together with this EXPO to move towards the next EXPOs in order to have a different approach to sustainability and really engage in making people aware of this huge problem, climate change,” said Massimiliano Falcone, Connect4Climate’s team member, summarizing the event.

After a brief introduction of Augusto Aninat, Director ProChile Italy, and Connect4Climate’s Massimiliano Falcone, the high-level panel discussion was facilitated by John Wyse, a BBC World News Speaker. He lead the dialogue along two main topics: technological innovation to tackle climate change and the role of traditional values to transition to a clean resilient future.

Technological innovation, at both a production and outcome (product) levels, were highlighted as climate solutions, to reduce CO2, mitigate fine dust, and other environmental impacts. The role of sustainability in business was mentioned as a paramount concept to measure up to.  Andrea Boragno, CEO of Connect4Climate’s partner Alcantara emphasized: “There is a strong idea and conviction that sustainability is not in conflict with the long term goal of increasing the economic and financial value of the company.” He went on the highlight that the final consumer has a huge say in advancing sustainability in business through their purchasing power, for sustainable products.

Presentation during the CLIMATEXPO discussion highlighting role fo solar. Credit: Roberto Razeto

The dialogue took a turn to introduce and discuss the concept of “Smart Cities,” and the role of traditional values in a global urbanized society. Farming and agriculture in a primarily Urbanized Global society can provide opportunities for societies to create new business and organizations, and explore new methods and improvements in technology, on the basis of traditional values that emphasize Social Capital and Human Cohesion.

The links between the role of the EXPO in address climate change and promoting sustainability were explored in the context of the recently announced Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the UN in September. “2015 is the year in which all the countries in the world have assumed their commitments and so EXPO could become and appointment, every 5 years, of disclosure, sharing all he progress made towards the achieving the SDGs,” said Maurizio Zollo, Dean’s Chaired Professor in Strategy and Sustainability at the Bocconi University. He emphasized that universal exhibitions could be the sites for governments to come together and showcase the progress they are making towards achieving the SDGs.

The role of business in advancing the sustainability is thought to be crucial. Maurizio Zollo underlined during the discussion that all the SDG goals “require companies fundamentally change the way that they behave the way they manage their businesses. Managers have to rethink what they are doing and how their companies are run, the role of the company within their social and environmental context, which requires a lot of willingness to innovate and to experiment.”

This Monday, the Empire State Building lit up in green as Climate Week (http://www.climateweeknyc.org/) kicked off in New York City. All across Manhattan, a number of climate-related events are taking place to direct the discussion towards an ambitious and binding agreement at the UNFCCC COP21 meeting in December in Paris. At the same time, the Sustainable Development Goals are a key topic of discussion in New York. On September 26, the United Nations will adopt the ‘2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’.

Connect4Climate recognizes the inevitable link between these goals and the need to act on climate change and we are supporting action on both fronts in several ways. In June, Connect4Climate teamed up with the UN Foundation to organize the New Voices, New Vision +SocialGood event in Cape Town, where it became very clear that the SDGs could not be discussed without making reference to the need for climate action. I moderated the panel on climate change and was encouraged by the clear new vision presented by young South Africans for the need to deploy renewable energy and embrace all climate actions in their daily lives to help the global transition to a cleaner, greener economy.

The connect4climate team is #AngryAboutClimateChange to support the launch of Champion for Earth. Credit: Max Thabiso Edkins

Connect4Climate also formed partnerships that helped emphasize the link between the SDGs and climate change during Climate Week. We’re supporting the Angry Bird Tournament Champion for Earth organized by Rovio and Earth Day Network. The Angry Birds, currently the most downloaded game in the world, will be sure to make an impact on millions worldwide as it incorporates climate change messages into its seven-day tournament.

We will also continue with support messages for Pope Francis’ encyclical “Laudato Si” as the world’s eyes will be on him as he visits Washington DC, New York City, and Philadelphia, and brings his message to act on climate change to American leaders.

We’ll also be supporting the exciting activities around the launch of the SDGs, including Project Everyone, the Global Citizen Festival, the Social Good Summit, the Solutions Summit, and particularly the Climate Week NYC Signature event, where President of the World Bank Group, Jim Yong Kim, will add his support for climate action. 

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Credit: UN/Project Everyone

The year 2015 is an important one for development. Across the world, individuals and organizations are supporting the #Action2015 call to action. The need for ambitious climate action is closely linked to the 2030 sustainable development agenda. Climate change impacts all, the poor the most, and has a direct link to all topics of sustainable development – health, water, education and policy, and finance. The people directly affected in each of these areas often have no voice, and that is why Connect4Climate exists – to form a global partnership platform that communicates climate impacts and solutions.

Connect4Climate is encouraging the enthusiasm shown by country leaders, business leaders, regional and city leaders and individuals for a more sustainable future and we look forward to carrying this momentum forward to COP21 and beyond. The impetus for ambitious climate action is certainly there, renewables have taken off around the world, legal systems are increasingly in place to support climate action – and world leaders, from different faiths, countries, cities and businesses have all shown their support for an ambitious outcome in Paris. Join us along the way.

Climate change is a global problem, but some nations are more susceptible to its negative impacts than others. According to research, the nations most vulnerable to climate change are not the ones that produce the highest levels of carbon dioxide emissions.

MHA@GW, the online master of health administration from the Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University, created this data visualization to illuminate the dichotomy between the countries most susceptible to climate change and the countries that emit the most CO2.

They compared data from the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Index (ND-GAIN) to data from the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC) to develop the map. The ND-GAIN evaluates a nation’s vulnerability and readiness to adapt to climate change, and the CDIAC does a yearly measurement of each nation’s CO2 emissions.

Action on climate change needs people. The People’s Climate March that took place in New York and other major cities around the world at the weekend is the best possible example of this. At a time when the clicking of a like-button can give the tempting illusion of having done something, we need to remind ourselves that nothing replaces the physical presence of people, together in the same space, demanding the same thing. However, the key ingredient for creating action is communication. I have recently become involved with the Adopt a Negotiator project and I am one of about 300 people who are engaged in the #Call4Climate writing challenge in preparation for this year’s climate change negotiations in Lima and the crucial negotiations in Paris at the end of 2015. For the most part, it is a virtual activity as we all set out to blog, write for online news papers, and cook up some viral posts on twitter and social media. As part of the #Call4Climate, we are climate communicators. This is a hard task and here I set out to reflect on it. I argue that it is about people, people, and people.

Effective climate communication, by that I mean communication that leads to action, is hard. The recently published Don’t even think about it: why our brains are wired to ignore climate change makes this point eloquently and is depressingly convincing. Generally, research from the social sciences and psychology suggests that moving people to act on climate change is difficult. Most importantly, we learn that knowing does not equal acting. The focus should not be on how to present more facts in the hope that people will finally change. The science is clear and this is important. But science does not translate straight into action. This is where we need to think and think harder to find approaches that work.

People I Though, as part of Adopt A Negotiator, we are not marching together in the streets, we are working on the same issues and offer virtual support. We share each other stories with our own networks, we share on twitter and meet online for skill-ups where we talk through various options of how to create effective messages. Being part of a community, even as it is virtual, is tremendously important. A group, people next to you doing the same thing, is irreplaceable in keeping momentum and keeping motivation throughout challenging times. This is the first sense in which climate communication is about people.

People II Climate change is incredibly abstract and feels incredibly far away from most of us, most of the time. We need to remember that we create messages for people, about people. Looking at what my fellow Adopt a Negotiator trackers have published so far, many stories are about the plights people face as a result of climate change. This is the second sense in which climate communication needs to be about people.

People III I think that there is a third aspect that we haven’t fully tapped into yet. We all have heard and seen the stories of people affected by climate change. We have heard stories of catastrophes and remarkable human resilience and ingenuity in the face of it. But what about those people who work on climate change? Let me be clear, I am not suggesting that activists, scientists, and diplomats are as important as the people most affected by climate change. However, what I am suggesting is that by looking at the people who spent their lives mobilizing for climate change, researching climate change, and negotiating climate change, we can learn a lot and we can be inspired. They might not be as sexy as a celebrity delivering a one-liner on why we need to address climate change but they are the ones actually doing something.

We live as people in a world of people; we are social beings all the way down. How our fellow women, men, and children are doing matters. It affects us; we feel compassion and are, hopefully, moved to act. What they are doing matters just as much. I am suggesting that seeing and understanding the people who already work on finding solutions to climate change can move others to become involved as well. We are moved by what moves other people.

Why have the various organisers and supporters of the climate march spent night after night preparing for this event? Why are some protesters willing to face arrest to support their cause, as it happened at the Copenhagen summit in 2009? Why does the scientist continue to research and publish despite receiving hate mail and even death threats? And why does the diplomat return to the negotiation table despite knowing that her room for manoeuvre is small because she has nothing to offer but a moral appeal and that coming from a small island state she is vastly outnumbered in the negotiations unable to face "negotiation by exhaustion" effectively? I think that these are the questions we should be asking.

One recent project that follows this direction is "Scared Scientists" by Nick Bowers whose portraits of climate scientists combined with their statements on what they fear the most about climate change are beautiful and haunting at the same time. The logic is this: if these people are so deeply moved to do something, why shouldn’t I be? If it matters for them, shouldn’t it also matter for me? Let’s bring on these kinds of stories and make climate communication ultimately about people, people, and people.

Katharina Hone is part of the #call4climate writing challenge at Adopt a Negotiator. With DiploFoundation she has been teaching online courses on climate change diplomacy since 2008 and was recently involved in running a capacity development program for participants from Pacific Island States. On twitter: @kathone

Twenty-three African experts, including academics and journalists, took time to review the UNESCO publication entitled “Reporting on Climate Change in Africa: A Practical Guide for Journalists”. The Connect4Climate Visualising A Warming World Africa maps designed by Laura Canali have been reproduced in the publication.

According to Fackson Banda, programme specialist at UNESCO Headquarters, “The publication is meant to contribute towards developing transnational and interdisciplinary climate literacy among media professionals and especially journalists, in an attempt to demystify efforts at climate change mitigation and adaptation”.

The review workshop on the publication brought together various African experts from Botswana, Ghana, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Co-authored by the International Institute for Environment and Development and INTERNEWS, the manuscript stimulated intense debate focused on the “interdisciplinary” basis of climate change knowledge, and how it could be appropriated by journalists in the “African” context.

The publication responds to a very real need in African journalists’ reporting of the complex phenomenon of climate change. Climate change poses a clear danger to lives and livelihoods across Africa. Journalists there have critical roles to play in explaining the cause and effects of climate change, in describing what countries and communities can do to adapt to the impacts ahead, and in reporting on what governments and companies do, or do not do, to respond to these threats.

Yet research on public understanding of climate change and surveys of journalists reveal that across Africa the media can and should do more to tell the story of climate change. UNESCO produced this book to help fill this important gap.

The authors of this guide represent the organizations that have trained hundreds of journalists around the world to report more effectively on climate change. They consulted 44 journalists from 17 African countries and 38 climate-change specialists, who provided their insights into what was missing from African media coverage and how this book should help to fill those gaps.

The publication is available on UNESCO's website and on our climate resources page

 

Wind energy plays an influential role in addressing climate change on a global level. Many countries around the world have been working hard to lower their carbon emissions during the last decades. Some of the world’s leading markets, such as the US, Denmark, Australia and the UK have recognized the power of clean energy in reducing carbon pollution, and this can include wind.

By increasing the proportion of electricity generated from wind energy, we can lower greenhouse gas emissions and reduce our dependency on fossil fuels. Wind farms do not emit greenhouse gases when they generate electricity, in contrast to coal and gas stations. An additional negative side in relation to both coal and gas as sources of energy is the amount ofwasted heat that cannot be easily transformed into electricity. Almost half of the energy used to produce electricity from gas and coal is lost during the production process, which is not the case with energy generated by the wind.

[video:https://vimeo.com/90993308]

A group of young Canadians take it upon themselves to strive for a more sustainable way of life by building their own wind turbine from scratch. Video credit: Jake Beed (Action4Climate Competition)

The impact of climate change will be especially acute in the  Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, according to a new World Bank Group report, and immediate action will be needed to avoid the projected consequences of worsening water shortages and rising food insecurity. Adaptation to a Changing Climate in the Arab Countries provides a comprehensive assessment of the threat to the region posed by increasingly severe weather, and offers a set of policy options for the urgent task of managing current effects and building resilience against those yet to come.

“Reducing vulnerability to climate change will require concerted action on multiple levels,” said Rachel Kyte, World Bank Vice President for Sustainable Development. “Political leadership now, will be critical in establishing climate change as a national and regional priority.”

The Arab world has been adapting to climate change for centuries. There is a long history and tradition of coping with the associated challenges, such as changes in temperature and rainfall. New climate change risks are emerging at a much faster rate, including the prospect of a world that is four degrees hotter, and resilience built up over years is being severely tested.

These risks have been identified and assessed in the new climate report which was prepared in partnership with the League of Arab States, involving specialists, researchers, policymakers and civil society organizations from across the region. The report reinforces the warning that decades of poverty reduction efforts could be reversed as contained in the recent World Bank publication, Turn Down The Heat: Why a 4° C Warmer World Must be Avoided.

Over the past 30 years, climate disasters have affected 50 million people in the Arab world, costing about $12 billion directly and many multiples of that indirectly. Recent trends suggest that dry regions are becoming drier and flash floods have become more frequent. The 2006 flooding of the Nile River Basin led to 600 deaths, with a further 118,000 people affected, while in 2008 a record five-year drought finally ended in the Jordan River Basin.

Globally 2010 was the warmest year since records began in the 1800s, and of the 19 countries that set new record temperatures, five were in MENA. Regional temperatures are projected to reach new record highs, coupled with less rainfall which, in a region with the world’s lowest endowment of freshwater, could make this precious natural resource even scarcer.

A harsher climate threatens livelihoods throughout the region. Extreme weather could affect both the annual US$50 billion tourism industry and agriculture, already under severe climate stress. The combination of higher temperatures, lower rainfall and increased frequency of drought could cause more crop failures and lower yields putting MENA’s rural population, nearly half the region’s total, under growing stress. Migration to already overcrowded cities and vulnerable costal zones would accelerate. Yet a further consequence of climate change could be the upending of traditional social roles, as it is usually the men who migrate for low-wage, low-skill jobs, and the women who remain behind with all the farming and community responsibilities.

“Climate change is a reality for people in Arab countries,” said Inger Andersen, World Bank Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa region. “It affects everyone – especially the poor who are least able to adapt – and as the climate becomes ever more extreme, so will its impacts on people’s livelihoods and wellbeing. The time to take actions at both the national and regional level in order to increase climate resilience is now.”

The report stresses that adaptation should be integrated into all national policies and actions to ensure they are climate resilient. This spans efforts from collecting climate data to strengthening basic services. Accurate weather information is critical for preparing for extreme events. Improved access to services such as education, health and sanitation, along with effective social safety nets to compensate for sudden loss of livelihood, will give citizens the skills and resources to navigate climate challenges. 

The World Bank Group is currently engaged across the region in supporting countries and communities in coping with the effects of a changing climate. A project in Morocco is financing the integration of adaptation measures into the national agriculture strategy, while in Yemen more effective land management is being promoted, along with research into drought resistant crops. Moreover, sustainable development, increasing social and economic inclusion and improving governance – the essential ingredients for building and maintaining resilience – are overarching goals of all Bank activities throughout the region.

Contacts:

In Washington: Lara Saade, (202) 473-9887, lsaade@worldbank.org;
In Doha: Ashraf Al-Saeed, +974 7790 5578, aalsaeed@worldbank.org

For more information, please visit: http://www.worldbank.org/mna

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