Mapping financial flows for disasters
A variety of financial flows are mobilised to help prepare for, mitigate and cope with disaster impacts. How much, from whom, and through which channels, however, is often not well understood, and remains difficult to track. This paper aims to identify available data and methodologies, explore whether these could support a global database to track disasterrelated financial flows, and map financial flows to three events in order to outline the scope and limitations of available information: Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines; the 2015/2016 El Niño-induced drought in Malawi; and Hurricane Maria in Dominica.
The paper finds that major gaps remain in publicly accessible databases and methodologies, particularly around government budget (re)allocations and public and private domestic flows, but also in international aid and remittances. The extent to which losses and damage from disasters are being recovered—and nationally identified post-disaster needs are being met through the types of financial flows assessed in this paper— varies greatly between the three events studied. If well managed and frequently updated, national information management systems could support better financial tracking.