Description

Four years have passed since adoption of the Hyogo Framework and, while progress has been made, there is broad consensus that its implementation must be accelerated with scaling-up of effort at all levels. Participants at the first session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, held in Geneva in June 2007, issued a call for action: substantial reduction in disaster losses by 2015….Investment in risk reduction needs to be substantially increased."1. What does it mean to invest in disaster risk reduction (DRR)? How have countries designed their investments in risk reduction? What are some experiences that can be shared in budgeting, monitoring, tracking and results from risk reduction investments? Can we collect and make available some practical experiences and recommendations for local and national government decision making when it comes to choices and options for determining such strategies.

In practice it appears that DRR has evolved into a series of investment streams:

i. "Stand-alone" sectoral DRR investments.
ii. Vulnerability-reducing investments which may not be directly labeled as DRR investments.
iii. DRR mainstreaming can constitute a third distinct category, and is one which does not necessarily imply additional investment for DRR, instead it may involve acknowledgement of the DRR implications of any development investment.

At the global level, "stand-alone" DRR investments have enabled awareness-raising of the need to invest in DRR and have stimulated important financial commitments towards such activities as developing emergency management capacity, early warning and disaster preparedness, retrofitting of infrastructure, etc., which in turn
are important to show results and initiate larger mainstreaming work. However, significant focus must be given to the more complex and challenging task of mainstreaming, or integrating disaster risk as an integral part of development investments in critical sectors.

There is evidence that progress is being made in recent years towards mainstreaming DRR in country development strategies (Source: GFDRR, World Bank study), wherein DRR is emerging as an integral
component, and in some cases, a key development goal for respective countries. That being said, although mainstreaming at a strategy and policy level has resulted in greater investments in DRR in some contexts, much more has to be realized in implementing a 'disaster-sensitive' development strategy.

Objectives:

In line with the overall intended outcomes of the Global Platform, this Panel will present some examples of national initiatives to reduce risk, explore the challenges related to increasing investments in national risk management, and discuss how international institutions can support up-scaling investment, as relevant.

The Panel will capture expertise and experiences gathered by National Governments who have made major investments in disaster risk reduction in their National Development plans.

The Panel aims to:
1. Discuss experiences and mechanisms in securing dedicated budgets for disaster risk reduction at all levels of Government.

2. Identify key issues related to risk reduction financing as guidance for governments that are now starting to manage risk through national planning instruments.

3. Exchange experiences related to the definition of investments e.g. stand alone versus multi-purpose[cross-cutting] versus mainstreaming; capturing investments in retrofitting; capturing investments in different sectoral budgets.

4. Explore how to track and monitor progress of investment categories as agreed for national use, and discuss experiences with differing approaches.

5. Discuss experiences in establishing and using baseline data using agreed indicators and investment definitions; at the national level, and as relevant, at the international level.

The bulk of investment in disaster risk reduction needs to take place in the context of sustainable development by making risk sensitive investments in all sectors. Development investments all too often fail to take disaster risk into account, resulting in an inefficient use of scarce resources.

MODERATOR

Zoubida Allaoua, Director, Finance, Economics and Urban Department,
Sustainable Development Network, World Bank

Background Papers

Outcomes

Note: this is an interim report pending publication of the Conference Proceedings from the 2009 Global Platform.

> Report from HLP1 [PDF, 157.48 Kb]