Regional Cross-border Disaster Collaboration: A Joint Standard Operating Procedure between Jordan Israel and Palestine

Abstract: This case study research aims to identify the enabling factors and challenges for developing a joint Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Disaster Response Preparedness between Jordan, Israel and Palestine. Twelve qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with experts either involved in the SOP project, the region and/or with extensive experience in developing cross-border SOPs. Three key factors were identified that enabled the development of the joint SOP. Effective partnership building; the neutrality of the project and actors; and creating a realistic exercise scenario to test the SOP were the critical enabling factors. The nine main identified challenges include political sensitivities and conflict; access restrictions; organisational issues; information exchange; participation of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs; shifting priorities; unequal power relations; adherence and sustainability SOP; and finalising the exercise scenario. The results revealed that developing an SOP between Jordan, Israel, and Palestine is a challenging endeavour; on the one hand, the SOP project faces generic challenges related to the SOP development process, which are often encountered in other Disaster Risk Management projects. On the other hand, a majority of the challenges and enabling factors are directly related to or exacerbated by the conflict dynamics. Nevertheless, this case study suggests that regional disaster collaboration between Jordan, Israel and Palestine is not impossible provided there is sufficient political will, a strong partnership and the project and actors are perceived as accepted and neutral by all three entities.