The development objective of the Emergency Urban Environment Project (EUEP) for Benin is to: (i) improve infrastructure and mitigate the negative environmental impact of floods in the Cotonou agglomeration, and (ii) increase the Recipient's level of preparedness for future flooding.
... See More + The additional financing (AF) will capitalize on the achievements of the EUEP by enhancing urban drainage infrastructure and improving conditions for flood risk management and preparedness nationally. The AF project will serve as a basis for the preparation of a follow up operation in FY2016 as specified in the country partnership strategy (CPS), in which other flood prone municipalities outside the targeted project area will benefit from further World Bank assistance; like in Northern Benin, and in particular the departments of Borgou and Alibori where the August 2012 floods caused significant human and material damage. Under component three, the AF will significantly expand project-funded wastewater treatment piloting, which is expected to benefit approximately 2,600 additional people by reducing the health hazards resulting from the mix of rain runoff with latrine and septic tank contents during floods. Under component four, the AF will put in place the currently missing elements for a much more effective disaster risk preparedness and management, which is expected to result in long term reduction of economic losses and saving of lives.
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This is a statement by Luis Videgaray, Secretary Finance and Public Credit, Mexico, on behalf of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Kingdom of Spain, and República Bolivariana de Venezuela, at the eighty-ninth meeting of the Development Committee held on April 12, 2014.
... See More + He stresses that multilateral coordination is the best asset to face global economic difficulties and to achieve the goals of fostering shared and sustainable prosperity, in order to eliminate extreme poverty by the year 2030.
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This is a statement by Mr. Pravin J. Gordhan, Minister of Finance at the eighty-ninth meeting of the Development Committee held on April 12, 2014.
... See More + The report states the improvement of economic prospects and growth in high-income countries; the progress made to date in aligning the institution to achieve the goals endorsed by governors at the last spring meetings; International Development Association's (IDA's) strong and more targeted investments in regional transformational projects in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) as an important component to shaping the future of sustainable growth on the continent; and the progress report on the implementation of the recommendations of the Sendai report and commend the increased integration of disaster risks management (DRM) into policy and investment operations, as well as in country partnership strategies across the Bank Group.
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This is a statement by Mr. Mitsuhiro Furusawa, Vice Minister of Finance, International Affairs at the eighty-ninth meeting of the Development Committee held on April 12, 2014.
... See More + He emphasises on: the International Development Association's( IDA's) role of providing valuable development expertise, as well as on the effect that loan programs from IDA to its client countries urge to pursue sound and responsible macro-economic policy that enables to pay back debts in a timely manner; and Japan's emphasis on support for infrastructure development, the formulation of development policies, and technical assistance for human resource development. He also traces Japan's emphasis on assistance in disaster risk management, global environmental issues, and healthcare, as it pays attention to factors that can impede inclusive and sustainable growth.
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This is a statement by Mr. Hon Steven Ciobo, Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer of the Commonwealth of Australia at the eighty-ninth meeting of the Development Committee held on April 12, 2014.
... See More + He states that the growth in high income countries is slowly showing signs of improvement, but the external environment for many countries remains uncertain. The tightening of fiscal and monetary policy in the developed world remains necessary in order to restore balance following the period of post-crisis stimulus. However, this may lead to short-term volatility and, over time, tighten access to capital for many countries, including those represented in constituency. In this context, it is important for all countries to renew commitment to the reforms required to reduce vulnerabilities and spur growth.
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This is a statement by Mr. Jacob J. Lew, Secretary of the Treasury at the eighty-ninth meeting of the Development Committee held on April 12, 2014.
... See More + Since the Development Committee met last October, the shared priority has been delivering on the bold vision for achieving the World Bank's twin goals - reducing extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity. The United States strongly supports the World Bank's efforts to strengthen its own capacity so that it can provide more strategic, evidence-based solutions, grounded in the best global knowledge, to its clients. Progress is being achieved on a number of fronts, from financial measures that will improve the World Bank's long-term financial sustainability to better tools that will diagnose a country's constraints to achieving durable growth.
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This is a statement by The Right Honourable Justine Greening, MP, Secretary of State for International Development, and The Right Honourable George Osborne, MP Chancellor of the Exchequer, United Kingdom, at the eighty-ninth meeting of the Development Committee held on April 12, 2014.
... See More + They discuss the World Bank President Jim Kim's reform efforts, the engagement with resilience, fragile states, conflict and crises, and gender and anti-discrimination. It is essential that UN member states agree on a clear, compelling and inspiring framework that builds on and goes beyond the Post-2015 Millennium Development Goals.
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The paper estimates the effects on presidential election returns in Mexico of a government climatic contingency transfer that is allocated through rainfall-indexed insurance.
... See More + The analysis uses the discontinuity in payments that slightly deviate from a pre-established threshold, based on rainfall accumulation measured at local weather stations. It turns out that voters reward the incumbent presidential party for delivering drought relief compensation. The paper finds that receiving indemnity payments leads to significantly greater average electoral support for the incumbent party of approximately 7.6 percentage points. The analysis suggests that the incumbent party is rewarded by disaster aid recipients and punished by non-recipients. The paper contributes to the literature on retrospective voting by providing evidence that voters evaluate government actions and respond to disaster spending.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS6836 APR 01, 2014
Sri Lanka is highly vulnerable to natural hazards and has embarked on a comprehensive disaster risk management program to reduce the adverse impacts of climate change and to adapt the stock of infrastructure to extreme climate shocks.
... See More + To increase both short-term and long-term resilience, the government is engaged with the World Bank on several fronts. Physical investments will be financed to address short-term infrastructure weaknesses, coupled with a contingent line of credit to safeguard against the immediate fiscal impacts of a disaster. The program comprises (i) the Climate Resilience Improvement Project (CRIP) (US$110 million) to reduce the immediate physical risks and improve the understanding of disaster risks so that future investments are targeted to their best use, and (ii) a Development Policy Loan with a Catastrophe Deferred Draw Down Option (CAT-DDO) (US$102 million) to strengthen the country's fiscal resilience to events. Based on the results of the ongoing fiscal disaster risk assessment, recommendations will be made to strengthen the fiscal resilience of the country. These include (i) improving the administration and execution of budgets; (ii) developing an annual disaster fund to finance rehabilitation following small and medium events; (iii) managing the implicit fiscal liability to support vulnerable populations; (iv) developing sovereign risk transfer instruments; and (v) supporting the development of a private catastrophe risk insurance market.
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The development objective of the Regional Disaster Vulnerability Reduction Project for Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is to measurably reduce vulnerability to natural hazards and climate change impacts and to create some level of resilience at a national level.
... See More + St. Vincent and the Grenadines is among the most disaster-prone countries in the world, regularly suffering disasters related to natural events such as earthquakes, hurricanes, landslide, rain and drought. These hazards have caused significant and in some cases recurrent damage to national infrastructure including housing, road networks, schools, hospitals and other facilities such as phone lines, water and electricity. This significantly affects human welfare, national economic activities, property, and natural resources. Additionally, the effects of climate change are already evident in many parts of the country with rising sea levels and storm activity continuing to impact on exposed coastlines and development. The situation is only expected to worsen as St. Vincent and the Grenadines is highly vulnerable to the effects of global warming and climate change. The project seeks to measurably decrease the vulnerability of people and the national economy of SVG to climate change and natural hazards. Mitigation measures include: 1) the implementation of new structures requires the dissemination of information as it regards accessibility and operation to potential beneficiaries. Awareness campaigns and other educational activities should be conducted at all projects implementation sites; 2) the formation of community self-help groups is recommended for the sustainability of the project management; 3) safeguard be built into the implementation in order to minimize impact which include scheduling works at best time to minimize disruptions. Where disruptions cannot be avoided develop a traffic plan outlining alternative routes and appropriate signage; 4) establish a system of communication and information in the communities; and 5) support programs which build the capacity of the local authorities and other institutions which can support community members in shelter management.
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The Emergency Recovery and Disaster Management Project for Bolivia had a satisfactory outcome with moderate risk to development outcome, and moderately satisfactory performances by both the Bank and borrower.
... See More + The lessons learned were: (1) Bundling of infrastructure subprojects can produce catalytic effects. (2) A national DRM strategy should respond to the particular needs and conditions prevailing in the country in question. (3) DRM awareness at community level contributes to ownership and sustainability of results. (4) Development of monitoring and evaluation systems is critical to accurate assessment of results and balanced inference of lessons. (5) The importance of the Bank's GFDRR grants in providing highly qualified and intensive technical assistance to enhance and help build national capacities and hazard-monitoring systems. (6) The frequent supervision and presence of an on-site team composed of specialists in DRM was indispensable to successful implementation and wide variety of beneficial outcomes. (7) Institutionalization of DRM priorities. Collaboration with the ERDMP contributed to FPS' developing a set of guidelines and standards for subproject maintenance and repair. This signals ownership of DRM concepts and is a positive indicator of sustainability of the new or rehabilitated infrastructure. (8) Multiple restructurings may create high transaction costs. Multiple restructurings may create high transaction costs for small operations like the ERDMP and can divert both Government and Bank resources away from implementation, especially in a context in which inter-agency coordination is already difficult. (9) Undertaking a large amount of small-scale reconstruction works may not be a viable model in this type of context.
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Implementation Completion and Results Report ICR1384 MAR 30, 2014
The objective of Additional Financing for the National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project for India is to reduce the vulnerability of coastal communities in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa to cyclone and other hydro meteorological hazards.
... See More + The additional financing will be used to scale up risk mitigation project activities and their impact and development effectiveness in the context of the October 2013 cyclone that hit the states of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. These aims will be targeted through expanded activities under component B (cyclone risk mitigation infrastructure) and the related incremental management and coordination support under component D (project management and implementation support). The additional financing will be processed with the following: (i) adjustment of the indicators to reflect the proposed scale up and additional activities, and (ii) closing date of October 31, 2017. As a result of cyclone Phailin, the Government of India is seeking support to further finance disaster preparedness, ever more conscious of the need for cyclone risk mitigation infrastructure in the vulnerable coastal states of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.
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Ratings for the Conservancy Adaptation Project (CAP) for Guyana were as follows: outcomes were moderately satisfactory, the risk to global environment outcome was moderate, the Bank performance was moderately satisfactory, and the Borrower performance was also moderately satisfactory.
... See More + Some lessons learned included: it is recommended that all future projects enable the use of a designated account as a mode of disbursement and budget should be made available to directly fund staff under the project; (ii) a detailed procurement plan should be established at appraisal for all key components of the project, especially those that directly impact the timing of other project components (such as equipment purchase, key contracts); (iii) Terms of Reference, or TOR specifications should incorporate close and continued technical supervision to avoid delays and/or misunderstandings; and (iv) technical review of the project should run throughout project implementation and include aspects for quality control. The CAP communication plan was funded by a Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery, or GFDRR grant. It was found that this helped to regularly disseminate the results of the project, facilitate knowledge transfer, boost coordination and inform future activities. It is highly recommended that all future projects incorporate a communication/dissemination plan. The remote sensing technologies and modelling methods used in the project have been tested in the CAP, and can be replicated for other regions in Guyana or in other Caribbean countries with similar situations. Development of a technical foundation for risk analysis conducive to rationalizing key-investment strategies is a necessary step in reducing flood risk.
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Implementation Completion and Results Report ICR3019 MAR 07, 2014
This issue focuses on ways to minimize impact on vulnerable populations living in the Rio de Janeiro's mountainous region, particularly in regards to extreme flooding and devastating landslides.
... See More + With the spotlight on Rio de Janeiro as a host city of the World Cup and Summer Olympics, government authorities need to protect residents and tourists from disasters and are striving to build resilience by improving land-use planning and implementing best practices in disaster risk management (DRM) to better prepare for climatological hazards. In the wake of the Rio flooding and landslide disaster in 2011, government authorities sought to understand the economic impacts and human losses triggered by extreme hazard events and the underlying causes of disaster risk. A number of DRM interventions, analytical studies, technical assistance, and capacity building activities include four main areas: risk identification; disaster preparedness and response; policymaking; and economic analysis. A culture of disaster risk awareness is growing in Brazil as urban planners are developing integrated and proactive approaches to development by institutionalizing DRM policies and building technical capacities to mitigate disasters. However, even with recent progress, much remains to be done to improve the performance and technical capacity of the institutions to integrate DRM principles into decision-making processes. The frequent and intense natural disasters in Brazil call for substantial investments including: studies to identify the best technologies; strategies for collecting and using data; development of land-use planning and urban policies that incorporate mitigation measures for existing hazards; and avoidance of settlements in high-risk areas.
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This report summarizes the experience from a series of pilot trainings in the Solomon Islands, organized by the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) and four provinces with support from the World Bank in an effort to provide practical information for operational teams seeking to integrate gender issues into disaster risk management program.
... See More + While the training has been specifically developed for four provinces in the Solomon Islands, the sample training program, documented in this report can inform teams in the region and beyond that are preparing similar trainings in terms of the design, implementation, content and sequencing of presentations, activities and discussions, and other practical considerations. This report is a product of the staff of the World Bank with external contributions by Australian Aid.
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