Over the last few decades, natural
disasters have cost aid donors serious amounts of money that could have been
earmarked to fund other development programs — which the World Bank
and the Japanese government plan to address by focusing on a new (and better)
way to conduct disaster risk management.
This week, the Washington D.C.-based
institution and Japan launched a program
to mainstream disaster risk management in the most vulnerable developing
countries. It aims to produce a streamlined protocol in global
disaster risk management and climate-proof development programs
moving forward, according to a disaster risk management expert from the World
Bank.
“Support to vulnerable countries for
effective DRM mainstreaming in all development planning and investments … will
be delivered through technical assistance, capacity building and pilot projects
on … risk identification, risk reduction, preparedness and financial
protection,” Prashant, member of the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and
Recovery, told Devex.
The severe effects of disaster-related
incidents, especially in developing nations, have been devastating. According
to a World Bank report,
disaster losses have cost the world over $3.8 trillion from 1980 to 2012, a
huge amount that could have been spent in eradicating global poverty several
times over.
Cross-cutting framework
The launch of the DRM program
complements another initiative under the same partnership called Code for Resilience,
harnessing expertise of innovators, technologists and disaster management
experts to create digital and hardware disaster solutions. This holistic and
comprehensive approach, the expert said, will prove to be essential and timely.
“A comprehensive and cross-cutting
[DRM] framework is the most urgent development imperative for high-risk
countries as it will amount to protecting all development investments, outcomes
and gains,” Prashant explained. “[Without DRM], it runs the risk of decades of
development gains being wiped out in a moment.”
If these proactive steps are not taken
seriously, the poorest and the most vulnerable will suffer the most, according
to a spokesperson from the Japanese finance ministry.
“Natural disasters take a heavy toll
on the lives of the people. They … significantly damage years of development
efforts in moments,” the spokesperson noted. “The poor and vulnerable are most
exposed. It is thus vital to provide appropriate support for actions in advance
to prepare for future disasters.”
The program will be managed by the
World Bank’s GFDRR, with $100 million in funding provided by Japan over the
next five years.
Challenges
Despite the merits of the proposed
disaster risk management program, both donors admitted that several challenges
will have to be addressed before the initiative can have full positive effects.
For the Japanese official, the program
will be in its strongest if synergy between different institutions including
their own development agency JICA and multilateral
organizations like the Asian
Development Bank are forged and strengthened.
Prashant, on the other hand, listed
several challenges that need to be addressed including the need to scale up
international support, meet growing demand for technical assistance and
capacity building for effective DRM, as well as sustaining ties and commitment
with the initiatives various stakeholders.
“The challenge is to maintain
sustained counterpart interest in recipient governments and communities in
order to maximize cross-cutting integration of DRM and climate adaptation in
all development planning and investments,” he said. “It is often observed that
governments accord high priority to DRM after being hit by disasters, and
unfortunately over time, other more immediate concerns start pre-occupying the
governments as DRM tends to take a lower priority over time.”
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