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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On 24th and 25th December, 2013 a tropical trough system produced heavy rains in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG). The ensuing rapid and intense flash flooding resulted in severe damage and 9 confirmed deaths with 3 persons still missing.
... See More + Additionally, there was widespread damage to road infrastructure, electricity and water infrastructure, housing as well as public and private buildings. This report serves as a reminder and proof of the Government (Go) SVG's resolve and commitment to risk reduction as well as the well-being of people. The GoSVG recognizes the necessity to better understand the climate and disaster risk context, and do best to reduce this risk and improve resilience across all sectors. On December 26, 2013, the GoSVG declared a national level two disaster in accordance with the National Emergency and Disaster Management Act, 2006. This report provides a rapid damage and loss assessment of the sectors affected - with a particular focus on infrastructure damage in order to inform the GoSVG's recovery, reconstruction, and financial planning. It also includes short and medium term recommendations designed to further incorporate disaster risk reduction and management into land use and physical planning decision-making processes so that the authors continue to develop into a country that is more resilient to natural disasters and climate change.
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Pakistan experienced severe flooding after torrential monsoon rains hit southern Sindh and the adjoining areas of Punjab and north-eastern Balochistan in August 2011.
... See More + Flash floods triggered by the monsoon rain caused severe damage to infrastructure in the affected areas. Entire villages and urban centers have been flooded, homes have been destroyed, and over a million acres of crops and agricultural lands have been damaged. A Damage and Needs Assessment (DNA) has been commissioned in the wake of the floods. The DNA assesses the extent of the damage and the needs for rehabilitation and reconstruction of the damaged assets and infrastructure, and restoration of livelihoods and economic productivity. It provides the strategic underpinnings for medium- to long-term post-floods reconstruction, recovery planning, prioritization, and programming. This report quantifies physical damage and presents sector level recovery and reconstruction strategies. Taking into account the extent of the damage and the proposed strategies, the report then quantifies corresponding needs.
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Disasters are increasing worldwide, with more devastating effects than ever before. While the absolute number of disasters around the world has almost doubled since the 1980s, the average number of natural disasters in Middle East and North Africa (MNA) has almost tripled over the same period of time.
... See More + In the MNA, the interplay of natural disasters, rapid urbanization, water scarcity, and climate change has emerged as a serious challenge for policy and planning. Projections by climatologists and United Nations specialists suggest that MNA economies and livelihoods will be the second most affected by climate change. Governments across the region have seen a progressive increase in demand for comprehensive disaster risk management (DRM) services. Since 2007, a range of country-level programs have been launched in Djibouti, Morocco, and the Republic of Yemen to increase their resilience to disasters due to Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR). Decentralization of the DRM agenda has progressed slowly, although some countries are making a progressive shift. This report aims to take stock of progress in risk management in MNA, while identifying gaps for future interventions, to broaden the dialogue for a more proactive and collaborative management of risks. This report builds on the strategic vision, principles, and goals of the MNA region's countries; the Islamic Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (ISDRRM); the MNA strategic framework for climate action; and the World Bank's strategy update for MNA. This report aims to establish a more strategic and collaborative framework between the World Bank and its international partners, particularly United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) and UN Development Program (UNDP), in order to assist MNA countries to shift from disaster response to proactive risk management.
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Costa Rica is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the World due to the tectonic interaction of the Cocos and Caribbean plates. Earthquakes, and other natural hazards, place major stress on the countrys population, infrastructure and economy, and often result in the disruption of basic services.
... See More + In response to this, the Government of Costa Rica is continuously working to build the capacity of technicians to design effective disaster risk management policies and investments to reduce seismic risk. Through the technical assistance projects (TAP), Costa Rican Water and Sanitation Institute (AyA) gained capacity to perform probabilistic seismic risk assessments for the water supply and sanitation (WSS) networks. The risk assessments provide AyAs technical team with critical information about the most vulnerable assets and areas that may concentrate higher economic losses, which will inform decisions about infrastructure investments and emergency preparedness. The Costa Rica TAP serves as a capacity-building model for the WSS sector that can be replicated in Costa Rica and other countries of the Latin America region, as well as for other natural hazards.
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Costa Rica is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the World due to the tectonic interaction of the Cocos and Caribbean plates. Earthquakes, and other natural hazards, place major stress on the countrys population, infrastructure and economy, and often result in the disruption of basic services.
... See More + In response to this, the Government of Costa Rica is continuously working to build the capacity of technicians to design effective disaster risk management policies and investments to reduce seismic risk. Through the technical assistance projects (TAP), Costa Rican Water and Sanitation Institute (AyA) gained capacity to perform probabilistic seismic risk assessments for the water supply and sanitation (WSS) networks. The risk assessments provide AyAs technical team with critical information about the most vulnerable assets and areas that may concentrate higher economic losses, which will inform decisions about infrastructure investments and emergency preparedness. The Costa Rica TAP serves as a capacity-building model for the WSS sector that can be replicated in Costa Rica and other countries of the Latin America region, as well as for other natural hazards.
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In recent years, the world has suffered a multitude of crises. Financial and economic turmoil have disrupted the world economy through loss of income, jobs, and social stability.
... See More + Intense natural disasters have devastated entire communities from Haiti to Japan, leaving a trail of fatalities and economic losses in their wake. Concerns about global warming have grown, as have fears about the spread of deadly contagious diseases. The inability to manage risk properly leads to crises and missed opportunities. This poses significant obstacles to attaining the World Bank Group's two main goals: ending extreme poverty by the year 2030 and boosting shared prosperity of the bottom 40 percent of the population in developing countries. Managing risk effectively is, therefore, absolutely central to the World Bank's mission. The World Development Report (WDR) 2014 demonstrates that effective risk management can be a powerful instrument for development, it can save lives, avert economic shocks, and help people build better, more secure futures. This report calls for individuals and institutions to move from being 'crisis fighters' to becoming 'proactive and systematic risk managers.' There is substantial evidence that recognizing and preparing for risk can pay off abundantly. For instance, many developing countries displayed resilience in the face of the recent global financial crisis because they had previously reformed their macroeconomic, financial, and social policies.
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Pakistan is vulnerable to a number of adverse natural events including earthquakes, cyclones, tsunamis, floods, and droughts. These risks are further exacerbated due to growing urbanization and shifting climatic patterns, resulting in extreme and unpredictable weather events.
... See More + Pakistan has experienced a wide range of major disasters in the past 40 years. The objective of the Bank's disaster risk management (DRM) engagement is to support the Government of Pakistan's (GoP) priority for improved institutional clarity and capacity in DRM, and understanding of disaster risk to increase resilience. Increasing the capacity involves the streamlining of roles and responsibilities of institutions, and strengthening operating procedures and protocols with the aim to mitigate risk, as well as prepare for and respond to disasters events in a more coordinated manner. The first phase of this engagement is supporting the National Working Group (NWG) on risk assessments to reach consensus on understanding of physical and fiscal disaster risk. Increased understanding of vulnerable infrastructure and development will lead to the development of a road-map for a multi-year investment program to increase disaster resilience.
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Working Paper 81090 SEP 01, 2013
Forni, Marc S.; Khan, Haris; Shah, Shiraz Ali; Tehsin, Ahsan
The focus of development actors working in the area of disaster management has shifted substantially from disaster recovery to disaster risk reduction over the past decade, coinciding with the decade of the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) 2005-2015.
... See More + Amidst this strategic shift, there is now the need to work towards ensuring that investments made to reduce disaster risks are cost-effective and that the benefits reach all members of the population including the poor and vulnerable, who are often 'affected disproportionately' (Global Assessment Report 2009, The Sendai Report 2012). The losses from natural disasters to mankind are undoubtedly massive-on average, globally every year over 100,000 people were killed and some 246 million people affected by natural disasters during the period 2002-2011 and the estimated average economic loss was US$131 billion per year. The purpose of this note is to briefly survey existing evidence in developing countries with regard to the benefits and costs of various disaster risk reduction interventions so as to provide some general lessons for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) practitioners on the strengths and limitations of such existing work. In doing so, this note examines evidence on the economics of DRR in developing countries. The note begins by providing a comparative guideline for analysis. This is followed by a summary diagnostic of seventeen case studies along five key dimensions comprising the guideline as follows: 1) metric and methodology, 2) sources of uncertainty, 3) measuring fatalities and injuries, 4) results obtained, and 5) disaggregated impacts. In the concluding section that follows, the note discusses the overall trends in the field of performing cost and benefits analysis of DRR measures and offers some recommendations for ways forward.
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While the entire country is vulnerable to natural hazards, there has yet to be a national level risk assessment of Pakistan which is considered as the first step to enable the government to prioritize investments for mitigating the risk these hazards pose to the human capital and infrastructure.
... See More + Moreover, in order for the risk assessment to be owned by the Government and to have its recommendations incorporated in the national development process, this task needs to be undertaken by the national technical entities. The World Bank Disaster Risk Management (DRM) team recommended that the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) should take the leadership of disaster risk assessment by creating a forum comprising of technical agencies such as the meteorological department, the geological survey, the space agency, and other relevant stakeholders. Commitment and ownership of the government was evident from the remarks of the federal minister for science and technology who opened the meeting and termed creation of the national working group (NWG) as a timely step towards a resilient Pakistan. The first meeting of the NWG was followed up by creation of technical working groups on earthquake, flood, exposure or vulnerability information and communication. These groups will be driving the risk assessment process forward in Pakistan through the development of work plans, commitment of resources and cross-fertilization of skills, data and knowledge. The World Bank in cooperation with NDMA arranged comprehensive training courses on earthquake, floods, and exposure modeling. The enhanced capacities of the national level technical agencies will now be put to the test as they jointly undertake a multi-hazard risk assessment of the federal capital.
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