Institutionalising disaster risk management: Latin America's systems approach

This brief begins by describing how approaches to disaster risk management (DRM) in Latin America have evolved from purely responsive actions to broad institutional reforms aimed at mainstreaming disaster prevention and mitigating risk. It then provides an analysis of the main characteristics of this systems approach, describing how it has facilitated the institutionalization of DRM into public policy in Latin America and providing key examples from across the region. Finally, the brief describes the major contextual factors that have facilitated these processes, identifies on-going challenges and offers lessons learned that may be useful for other countries and regions.