The Minister of International Cooperation H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat chaired the first meeting of the Advisory  Committee for the Resilience Credit Evaluation Initiative, which was organized by the Ministry of International Cooperation, in partnership with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and Duke University.

This is part of the activities of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly, which included representatives of various relevant entities from development partners, the private sector, commercial banks, philanthropic organizations, academia and think tanks, including the Rockefeller Foundation, the World Economic Forum, representatives of the Climate Policy Initiative, Citi Bank, Mitsubishi Financial Group, the Environmental Defense Fund, and the Shell Foundation, The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and others.

In her speech, the Minister stressed the importance of joint efforts to measure resilience and invest in its benefits in order to attract and stimulate private sector investments, stressing that investing, measuring and increasing resilience is now key.

The Minister indicated that, in light of cooperation with the IFAD, the concept of resilience credit has been included in the “Sharm El-Sheikh Guidebook for Just Financing,” which was issued in COP27, in cooperation with relevant entities, to develop a realistic and implementable plan that maximizes the effectiveness and efficiency of climate financing, adding that the guide encourages the roles of relevant entities, such as governments, in creating a stimulating environment for private investments. It also worked on monitoring the resilience credit mechanism and identifying the main players in this framework.

H.E. continued that over the past few months, the Ministry of International Cooperation, in partnership with the IFAD, and with technical support from Duke University, worked to develop methodologies for implementing the resilience credit, and to identify the main indicators that enhance the private sector’s participation in development, pointing out that the meeting is working to pave the way to activate resilience measurement tools in preparation for COP28, stressing the importance of harnessing joint efforts to open new horizons for sustainable investment, improve communities’ livelihoods, and build resilience.

The UN defines resilience as the ability of systems, local communities, and areas exposed to risks to resist, absorb, adapt to, and recover from the effects of shocks in an effective manner, and to manage the risks resulting from them. The resilience index is measured through a number of factors, including water security, food security, and access  to information, employment and other indicators.