Advisory for non-essential travel within the Middle East North Africa (MENA) Region

The advisory below was issued on Oct. 20, 2023, by Nathan Brostrom, Executive Vice President and CFO, and Kevin Confetti, Associate Vice President & Chief Risk Officer. 

In recent weeks, we have seen an escalating security risk within the Middle East North Africa (MENA) Region, including anti-Israel and anti-United States protests and violence in several countries.  Due to this heightened risk and our concern for the health and safety of University of California students, faculty, and staff, I am directing the UC community to avoid all non-essential travel to the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region for the foreseeable future.

Any travel that is determined to be essential by a location needs to be evaluated prior to departure.  This evaluation should include:

• Review of the DOS Travel Advisories related to your destination(s) prior to making travel plans.
• Review of the trip by travel security/global risk management at your campus and/or Office of the President.
• Attending a pre-departure travel briefing. This can be arranged through your travel security/global risk management at your UC location.
• Registering your travel with the U.S. State Department’s STEP Program to receive timely notifications of safety and security concerns.
• Ensuring that your travel is registered with the UC Travel Insurance Program.

In addition, the U.S. State Department has issued its own Worldwide Caution: Due to increased tensions in various locations around the world, the potential for terrorist attacks, demonstrations or violent actions against U.S. citizens and interests, the Department of State advises U.S. citizens overseas to exercise increased caution. U.S. citizens should:

• Stay alert in locations frequented by tourists.
  • Enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive information and alerts and make it easier to locate you in an emergency overseas.
• Follow the Department of State on Facebook and Twitter to stay informed.

The attached Advice Sheet from UC’s travel security provider, Crisis 24, offers guidance for reducing your vulnerability during civil unrest We will continue to monitor the situation closely and will issue an updated advisory when appropriate.

Thank you for your cooperation and partnership in keeping our UC community safe.