The Gambia: disaster risk finance diagnostic

This document aims to support The Gambia's strategic approach towards disaster risk financing (DRF), assessing the relevant data, information and analysis available to provide recommendations. The recommendations aim to strengthen the country's DRF strategy, and has also acted to provide the Government of The Gambia with a better understanding of the country's disaster risk profile.

The diagnostic comes to six main conclusions, further supported by recommendations. The conclusions are as follows:

1. The disaster protection gap and the Government's disaster response costs cannot be quantified for multiple hazards.
2. The Government depends on unpredictable ex-post-arranged disaster financing within the national budget and from international partners.
3. The Government's contingent liabilities in respect of its disaster response are not explicitly defined.
4. The Government has two pre-arranged instruments to finance disaster risks in place:
   1. The World Bank's Catastrophe Deferred Drawdown Option covers up to USD20 million for natural or health-related disasters.
   2. The ARC insurance policies cover up to USD3.76 million in response to severe droughts.
5. There is a legal provision for a contingency fund for national disasters, which is currently not filled.
6. DRF relies on the Government's Public Financial Management (PFM) Systems to implement payouts.