A Comprehensive Disaster Resilience Index for MENA Countries

Disaster resilience is a protective feature aimed at reducing the effects of natural disaster events and losses resulting from these events. The aim of this study is to propose a disaster resilience index (DRI) for the MENA countries, to facilitate a more comprehensive understanding of disaster resilience in the region. The contributions of the paper to the literature are (i) calculating disaster resilience index of disaster prone MENA countries which are mostly missing in the literature, (ii) incorporating the indicators to the index through a systematic examination of indicators in the existing literature, (iii) integrating geospatial data on disaster risk from GIS into the DRI, (iv) adding the natural hazard risk index to the DRI, (v) systematically examining the impact of each indicator on the DRI, so identifying the most effective indicators for each country, and (vi) establishing a correlation between the DRI and economic losses, thereby revealing the efficacy and robustness of the newly developed DRI index developed in this study. The findings reveal a diverse landscape of disaster resilience in the MENA region, with some countries demonstrating high preparedness and resilience, while others face significant challenges. The classification of the DRI enables a detailed comprehension of the strengths and vulnerabilities of the region concerning its capacity to withstand and recover from disasters. The inclusion of novel dimensions such as geographical resilience and natural hazard risk provides a more holistic perspective for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers.