World Bank: Responding to an alarming trend

World Bank brief

Disaster risk reduction and the World Bank - responding to an alarming trend

Since the 1990s, disasters have killed nearly 60,000 people a year, on average, and affected the lives and livelihoods of millions more. An estimated 220,000 people died in the 2004 Asian tsunami and 1.5 million were left homeless. In just this past year, China ’s Sichuan earthquake killed 69,000 people and affected more than 45 million others; in Myanmar, the official death toll from the deadly cyclone was more than 84,500 people.

Recurring disasters erode the assets and livelihoods of the poor, increase school drop out rates due to reduced family income, and prevent access to health care because of damages to vulnerable hospital facilities and health systems, to name just a few effects. It is estimated that more than 3.4 billion people are at risk from a natural hazard; 770 million are threatened by more than one.

-   Asia and Africa have been hardest hit: nearly 90 percent of all those killed in the world and 98 percent of all those affected live in these regions. A World Bank–Columbia University study has identified 86 disaster “hot spots”—countries that are prone to high human and economic losses from major hazards such as cyclones, earthquakes, floods, droughts, volcanoes, and landslides.

-   Between 1996 and 2005, disasters caused $667 billion in direct material losses worldwide. Economic losses were 20 times greater (as a percentage of GDP) in developing countries than in developed ones.
-   Natural disasters are expected to increase in frequency and severity as a result of climate change, rapid urbanization, and environmental degradation.

-   Developing countries are at highest risk because they lack the financial and material resources, including technologies and institutional capacity, to take the steps necessary to prevent or mitigate future risks.
-  Disasters can wipe out decades of development gains in a matter of seconds. Disaster risk reduction is as much a development issue as a humanitarian one.

Reducing disaster risks is an integral part of the fight against poverty. Sensible and cost effective risk reduction programs—such as early warning systems, strengthened building codes, and emergency preparedness strategies—are the best defense against future catastrophe.


The World Bank’s expanding role in disaster risk reduction

The World Bank has been involved in disaster recovery and reconstruction for more than 25 years. Natural disaster assistance accounted for 9.4 percent of total World Bank commitments between 1984 and 2005. This share has been increasing steadily over the years.

Responding to a clearly alarming trend in losses of lives and assets due to more frequent and severe natural disasters, the Bank has shifted its focus from disaster assistance to helping client countries improve their capacity for disaster risk management. The Bank policy for rapidly responding to crises and emergencies has been revised and the procedures streamlined. Thirty projects approved under the new policy reflect the Bank’s emphasis on integrating risk reduction into development strategies in high risk countries—for example, in the infrastructure, health, and education sectors.

With the United Nations and major donors, the Bank also played a leadership role in creating the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR). Launched in 2006, GFDRR provides technical and financial assistance to help disaster-prone countries decrease their vulnerability and adapt to climate change. GFDRR works closely with UN agencies, client governments, World Bank regional offices, and other partners.

In less than two years, GFDRR has evolved into the leading global partnership for advancing disaster risk reduction through ex ante support to high risk countries and ex post assistance for accelerated transition from relief to development after a disaster. Examples of the work underway include the following:

-  Assessing Disaster Risks—$13.4 million for 22 projects, such as a study in Malawi and Mozambique to determine losses in the main economic sectors as a result of weather-related hazards, a joint WB-UN assessment of the economics of disaster risk reduction, and a disaster and climate change impact assessment in Madagascar;

-  Mitigating Disaster Risks—$13.2 million for 24 projects, such as the design of building codes that address sea level rise in the Pacific Islands, drainage systems in coastal cities in Vietnam, and development of hazard warning and monitoring systems in Burkina Faso;

· Financing Disaster Risk Reduction—$5.8 million for 7 projects, such as the feasibility of national catastrophe pools in Central America, Mexico, and Chile; the issuance of catastrophe bonds under the global catastrophe mutual bond program in Chile and Mexico; and the evaluation of regional risk pooling in the Pacific Islands, Central America, and South-Eastern Europe;

-  Adapting to Climate Change—$11.1 million for 20 projects, such as the development of a climate change primer for East Asian city managers, a drought adaptation plan for Morocco, and studies of future climate change risks and adaptation measures in Bangladesh, Eastern Africa, and the Caribbean.

GFDRR has also initiated a new South-South Cooperation Program to foster greater developing country leadership on disaster risk reduction by promoting inter-regional partnerships and cross country collaborations.

In the aftermath of disasters, GFDRR’s ex post assistance bridges the gap between humanitarian assistance and development by focusing on longer term recovery and a “build back better” approach. GFDRR makes seed money available to World Bank regional and country teams for comprehensive disaster damage and needs assessments. Under Government leadership and in coordination with the UN and other partners, the assessments provide a solid foundation for recovery and reconstruction planning.

Post recovery support is available through two trust funds: a Technical Assistance Fund to strengthen preparedness and contingency planning for disaster recovery, and a Callable Fund—a fund in readiness based on standby agreements with GFDRR donors—to mobilize international financing for recovery and reconstruction operations and facilitate coordinated recovery efforts.