Creating risk information

By aggregating existing data or creating new information, Innovation Lab helps countries understand their risks. In the last year, Innovation Lab pioneered a new risk assessment approach to develop multi-hazard risk profiles for five countries—Ethiopia, Kenya, Niger, Senegal, and Uganda—which provide information on earthquake, flood, drought, volcano, and landslide under current and future climate and socioeconomic conditions. This standardized approach will enable countries to understand the many hazards that they face and encourage risk-sensitive development.

Tools developed by Innovation Lab are open-source, easy-to-use and customized based on needs, without ongoing costs. In May, Innovation Lab launched ThinkHazard!, the first free, open-source, online tool to help countries identify natural hazards in an easy-to-understand manner. The tool illustrates how eight different kinds of hazards—earthquakes, landslides, cyclones, volcanic eruptions, water scarcity, river floods, coastal floods, and tsunamis—might affect every country in the world.

Cultivating capacity through local and global partnerships

For risk information to inform development projects, it is important to engage national and local stakeholders and build their capacity to use and develop risk information. The Open Data for Resilience Initiative (OpenDRI) strives to develop long-term ownership of open-data projects with partner countries. In partnership with a local innovation hub in Madagascar, OpenDRI supported the government to create a geospatial platform that stores information essential to DRM, urban planning, etc. In FY16, this hub trained 42 local representatives from DRM and mapping government agencies. This platform allows important data to be easily used, updated, and shared across ministries so that decision makers have a better understanding of Madagascar’s risk.

Communicating risk information to a broader audience

Because information is only useful if it is understood and used across multiple stakeholders, it must be communicated and delivered in a way that can resonate effectively with various audiences. To that end, Innovation Lab focuses on delivering quicker, high-quality, understandable risk information to more users.

In Sri Lanka, reservoir managers who make decisions on water level and water release downstream often lack the information necessary to reduce flood risk. Using mobile weather stations supported by Innovation Lab and the local irrigation department, managers now have real-time information distributed through text messages on rainfall intensity and other weather parameters. These low-cost weather stations are enabling more-informed decision-making in times of flood and drought.

Going forward

Innovation Lab will continue to support the creation of robust, yet simple tools, data and information until all countries have adequate information for decision-making. Through partnerships and community networks, Innovation Lab will continue to enhance risk assessment and risk communication, while supporting local initiatives to encourage buy-in on the ground.

Creating comprehensive financial solutions

DRFI continues to support an increasing number of countries to build comprehensive financial protection strategies by linking together different financial instruments. Over the past year, technical experts from GFDRR worked along with the Government of the Philippines to implement its DRFI strategy by linking it with a second $500 million World Bank Catastrophe Deferred Drawdown Option (Cat-DDO). In Morocco, DRFI worked toward integrating an innovative insurance scheme to provide payouts to citizens after floods and earthquakes as part of the World Bank’s $200 million Program-for-Results operation, where the national government is developing a comprehensive approach to risk management.

Developing analytical solutions for better decision-making

Analytics enable financial decision- makers to interpret and use risk data; appraise, monitor, and evaluate financial instruments that will best provide post-disaster resources; and inform better policy decisions. In December 2015, a global disaster risk financing analytics project, financed by the EU, was established to improve understanding and increase government capacity to make informed decisions on disaster risk finance based on sound financial analysis. This project is developing a suite of “parent” analytics decision-making tools, which will be customized to selected pilot countries.

Thought leadership enables learning through training and peer-exchange

Training public officials and informing policy discussions to scale-up the reach and scope of the disaster risk finance agenda. In FY16, a training program was rolled out, reaching over 200 government officials in 15 countries. This has directly influenced project preparation in Serbia that is exploring the development of a Cat-DDO Option. Peer-exchange in South-East Asia is also informing the preparation of a regional risk financing facility in Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar.

Adapting existing solutions across many crises

Over the past several years, DRFI has been applying disaster risk financing principles to other kinds of risks. For instance, enabling safety net programs to respond to other crisis in addition to natural hazards. For example, during a drought in northern Kenya, the Kenyan Hunger Safety Net Program quickly scaled up, reaching roughly 165,000 households, 90,000 more than those who had been receiving regular cash assistance previously. In May 2016, the program subsequently delivered cash transfers to an additional 40,000 households.

Going forward

DRFI will further develop its approach of adapting financial solutions to crises beyond those driven by natural causes. This will, for instance, include developing crisis responsive safety net mechanisms, building on its success to date in countries such as Kenya and Uganda and applying lessons learned in new countries and contexts such as Niger and the Philippines.

Providing specialized support to influence the design of schools

Over the last year, Safer Schools has developed guidance material to inform investments that help improve the safety of new and existing school infrastructure. In addition, technical support has enabled an initial dialogue with ministries of finance, public works, and education to integrate risk considerations into new and existing educational investments, thereby increasing resilience on a large scale. Engagements have started in 13 countries across five regions, including in Armenia, El Salvador, Indonesia, Jamaica, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nepal, Peru, Philippines, Turkey, Samoa, Tonga, and Vanuatu.

Grant resources help make the case for building safer schools

GFDRR engagements in Armenia, Nepal, Peru, and Turkey are making the case for greater investment from development partners. In Peru, GFDRR supported a nationwide risk assessment for the education sector, the development of a National Plan and a Seismic Retrofitting Program for School Infrastructure. In its fi t phase, implementation will begin with 373 schools benefited 278,000 students, with a target of 12,000 schools over the next couple of years. In December, GFDRR, the World Bank and Arup, an engineering firm, conducted a technical review of school safety in Armenia to identify priority areas of additional support to the national Safe School Improvement Program (SSIP).

The Safer Schools initiative is providing technical advice and support to Nepal’s Department of Education to inform the reconstruction process after the 2015 earthquakes. Following a rapid visual damage assessment, GFDRR conducted a comprehensive structural integrity and damage assessment of more than 6,000 school buildings to inform a prioritized investment plan from partners including the Asian Development Bank and JICA for reconstruction and retrofitting.

Sharing knowledge and best practices

Safer Schools operates in collaboration with civil society, academia, and the private sector to develop guidance material and best practices to build resilient schools. Formal partnerships with technical organizations such as Arup, Applied Technology Council, and Save the Children, and academic institutes such as Universidad de los Andes, University College London, and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, enable quality knowledge exchange across different actors in this space. Working in close coordination with the Global Alliance, which brings together a range of UN agencies and international non- governmental organizations (NGOs) working on this topic, ensures the use of best practices for projects being implementing in countries.

Going forward

Safer Schools is monitoring global progress by creating a platform to establish a global baseline for school infrastructure. This information will inform future policies and identify actions to mitigate risk. Though in early stages, this effort has already yielded information about the location of over three million schools. Other organizations, such as Save the Children, have formally committed to use the platform to share and visualize progress in other areas of school safety, such as contingency planning at the school level.

Protecting the poor and marginalized and enabling empowerment

Several activities initiated in FY16 focus on building disaster-responsive social protection systems, which provide cash transfers and other support to poor households. In Dominica, Fiji, Grenada, Jamaica, the Philippines, Tonga and Vanuatu, for example, the initiative is helping to assess the readiness and improve the design of existing social protection programs. This is so that social protection programs can more effectively, rapidly, and transparently scale up before a shock hits, and forces vulnerable populations to maladaptive coping mechanisms such as selling off assets or pulling children out of school after a disaster strikes.

To enable large-scale support to households and communities, ICR promotes gender equality, social inclusion, and citizen engagement in DRM investments. Curricula has been developed on conducting post- disaster social impact assessments to better address the social dimensions of disasters and recovery, and how to identify and address gender dimensions of disaster and climate risk activities, with pilot trainings for both topics delivered to about 40 professionals implementing GFDRR programs this past fi cal year. In addition, ICR led the drafting of GFDRR’s Gender Action Plan, which aims to ensure that DRM investments support actions and outcomes addressing gender dimensions and empowering women.

Bringing local level resilience to scale

The Community Resilience to Climate and Disaster Risk Project (CRISP) in the Solomon Islands was set up in 2014, financed by the EU. This project revived the water supply system in the Solomon Islands, which was destroyed by Tropical Cyclone Nina. In collaboration with Nanngu community members, project engineers successfully installed a comprehensive water supply system, where water pipes are buried underground and out of reach of storm surges or tsunamis – reducing disruption of lives and livelihoods of communities from these disasters. As of FY16, this community-driven initiative has directly benefited 700 households and is projected to scale up to four provinces, reaching about 79,000 people.

Similarly, the National Community Driven Development project (NCDDP) in the Philippines empowers 847 targeted municipalities to participate in local governance. Communities receive block grants and vote on financing sub- projects to improve their municipalities. Because risk information and the ability to interpret is difficult to access at the local level, ICR is supporting the NCDDP to test and scale up the integration of participatory risk mapping to inform the design and implementation of these sub-projects, greatly improving their quality, and as a result, the community’s resilience to disasters.

Going forward

The ICR initiative will focus on demonstrating on-the-ground results and rolling out the Gender Action Plan. Operational demand is rising rapidly, particularly in Africa where countries are dealing with inter-related risks of disasters, conflict, and violence. The initiative will continue to build its network of civil society to integrate the voice communities into the broader global dialogue on DRM.

Strengthening the hydromet knowledge base

The Hydromet initiative works to continually build the global knowledge base needed to support the strengthening of hydromet systems. In an effort to share best practices and build the capacity of developing country partners, for example, the Hydromet initiative partnered with the Water Partnership Program to prepare an “Assessment on the State of National Hydrological Services in Developing Countries” and develop recommendations for improvement of hydrological service delivery.

Coordinating global financing for hydromet services

Funding for hydromet modernization programs has traditionally been quite fragmented. To address this, GFDRR has been working to bring stakeholders together to ensure that available resources to maximize positive impacts. In collaboration with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), GFDRR co-organized the First Development Partners Roundtable in April in Geneva, which brought together 37 development partners to increase international support and improve efficiency of hydromet investments.

By all accounts, the conference was successful. The Roundtable led to agreements on guiding principles, good practices, and future actions. Importantly, regular information exchange and annual meetings to coordinate activities and further scale up engagements were established, ensuring the dialogue will continue.

Supporting hydromet modernization operations in vulnerable countries

GFDRR helps to mainstream hydromet services into broader economic sectors, such as agriculture and water resources management, by advising partners and government on design of projects. Since 2013, alongside water experts from the World Bank, GFDRR provided support to the Government of Myanmar’s Department of Meteorology and Hydrology to support a $30.15 million investment for Ayeyarwady Integrated River Basin Management Project. GFDRR was instrumental in bringing key expertise from the WMO as well as coordinating financing from the Japan International Cooperation Agency and other development partners. Due in large part to GFDRR’s technical support and donor coordination, efforts have been positively received by IDA deputies and the World Bank management, both of which visited Myanmar to assess progress in June.

Going forward

GFDRR, along with the WMO and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), will be an implementing partner of the French-led Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems (CREWS) initiative, which seeks to effectively support Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDs) in adapting to climate change and reducing disaster risks. Building on the progress made to date, Africa will continue to be an area of focus for the Hydromet initiative through active participation in the Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Hydromet Program which is fully aligned with the Global Framework for Climate Services.

Promoting safer building practices

In FY16, GFDRR released Building Regulations for Resilience, a flagship report launched at the World Bank- IMF Spring Meetings in April 2016. The report highlights the importance of integrating good practices in building code regulation as an effective DRR strategy for existing and new infrastructure. With multiple actors subsequently seeking out GFDRR’s expertise in building regulations, pilots are currently in progress in Armenia, India, and Jamaica, as well as one in Ethiopia, which is already completed.

Tools to strengthen the resilience of cities

Through consultations with experts from international organizations including UN-Habitat, UNISDR, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the World Bank, as well as the private sector, in 2014, GFDRR developed the CityStrength rapid diagnostic tool to facilitate risk-informed development in urban environments. Since its development, city leaders have effectively used the tool to identify gaps in resilience to systems, services, infrastructure, and vulnerable populations.

FY16 saw the first concrete application of the tool, which informed the dialogue on preparing a $250 million World Bank investment in urban resilience in Can Tho, Vietnam. In FY16, a similar effort was undertaken in Accra, Ghana in collaboration with several international partners. In Ethiopia, consultations with ten capital cities identified regulatory issues and options. New opportunities for using the tool were initiated in Central America and South Asia.

Working with partners on the global urban agenda

In FY16, the Medellin Collaboration on Urban Resilience (MCUR), adopted and financed its work plan with support from the Cities Alliance. The MCUR stakeholders include UN- Habitat, UNISDR, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Rockefeller Foundation, ICLEI, 100 Resilient Cities, C40 Cities, the World Bank, and GFDRR.

The initiative facilitates knowledge sharing and financial resources that promote sustainable urbanization. The work plan is currently supporting the C40 Cities and the World Bank to develop and apply the Climate Action for Urban Sustainability tool.

Going forward

GFDRR is supporting the development of the World Bank’s City Resilience Program, which will be designed to better integrate risk management in territorial planning. This will help drive investment in resilient infrastructure and systems, and enable cities to access credit more easily. These activities will be directly linked to ongoing and planned infrastructure investment programs or regulatory reforms, ensuring scale and long-term impact. In addition, they will help prepare attractive, resilience-boosting private sector investment opportunities.

The Urban Resilience program will seek to facilitate knowledge sharing in a number of ways. This includes providing technical and operational experience, and developing tools and materials, which will ultimately shape and define how the World Bank supports cities to build resilience.

Strengthening institutional, technical, and operational support

SISRI works to drive development investment to vulnerable Small Island States, with a focus on building resilience to disaster and climate change. For example, since FY16, the initiative has helped plan and develop a scalable pipeline of projects in the African and Indian Oceans and the Caribbean and Pacific region. In so doing, the initiative is enabling the possibility for two positive outcomes: (i) continue the World Bank’s financing at present levels of about $200 million a year; and (ii) scale-up operations to provide more streamlined and efficient support through combined resources of other interested partners. The Marshall Islands received global expert support to model the impacts of sea level rise on its coast.

Promoting knowledge and tools for resilience

As part of SISRI’s knowledge and outreach strategy, the initiative produced a Knowledge Note based on the SISRI Building Blocks Framework, highlighting the range of financing and technical solutions available to Small Island States, and describing how investments in resilience can be scaled up for reducing climate and disaster risk. Knowledge Notes were also published on resilient social protection in Small Island States, and on how to manage effective and participatory population retreat from at-risk coastal area, which included examples from Jamaica, Samoa, and São Tomé and Príncipe, among others.

Improving Investment Flows

SISRI is helping Small Island States map the complex landscape of climate finance assistance and increase both the scale and efficiency of their investments. A joint SISRI-Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) analysis found that though donor funding for resilience nearly doubled from 2011 to 2014, reaching $1.01 billion, it remained highly fragmented with high transaction costs. SISRI is helping Small Island States to scale up and consolidate their resilience investments, moving from less significant, isolated projects toward national programs that deliver results at scale.

Building a community of practice

By harnessing the power of available expertise, SISRI established an internal group at the World Bank to capture and disseminate global knowledge on how to build resilience in Small Island States. In the past year, working groups were held on critical topics such as social protection, financial management, procurement, population retreat, and coastal protection, which helped with sharing lessons learned across these topics. SISRI is also coordinating an external Community of Practice, by bringing together practitioners from 22 Small Island States, and centers of international expertise. The first meeting of this community took place at the UR Forum in May 2016.

Going forward

Over the next few years, SISRI will provide increased technical, and operational assistance to more countries in the Pacific, Africa and Indian Oceans, and Caribbean regions. It will build on the financial landscape of climate and disaster resilience, try to address knowledge gaps and facilitate sharing of lessons learned among the small island countries.

Assessing damage and loss when disaster strikes

When countries request assistance after being hit by natural disasters or other shocks through protocols such as the tri-partite agreement, GFDRR and the World Bank—in partnership with the European Union and the United Nations—conduct a PDNA to assess the damage, loss, and recovery needs. A common, pre-agreed approach enables coordination among a range of partners including international organizations, government agencies within the country, and other relevant entities.

In FY16, PDNAs were conducted in seven countries, including Ecuador after the 7.2 magnitude earthquake in April 2016; Myanmar following the flooding in August 2015; and Malawi after the drought in June 2016. Together, these six interventions have mobilized over $650 million of the World Bank’s development assistance, in addition to investments made by other partners.

The PDNA methodology is also being applied in other contexts, such as post- conflict and in-conflict situations. In collaboration with the World Bank, two assessments were undertaken in Syria, with an update anticipated every six months to ensure the analysis remains relevant. In Yemen, an assessment was developed by using satellite imagery, social media analytics, and field reports.

Planning in the aftermath of a disaster

A disaster often serves as an entry point for discussions on planning for future shocks. GFDRR works with countries to develop post-disaster recovery frameworks as an essential step to post-disaster recovery. This has been a core focus of the initiative in FY16. For example, alongside the World Bank regional teams and other partners, GFDRR engaged the governments of Fiji, Malawi, and Nepal to put frameworks in place to strengthen their respective systems for resilient recovery and planning.

Strengthening recovery systems

GFDRR supports vulnerable countries before disasters to enhance their readiness for post-disaster recovery and build institutional capacities for efficiently addressing post-disaster challenges. It runs capacity-building programs for target countries and regional organizations on conducting post-disaster assessments, developing recovery frameworks and planning recovery. In response to a request from the Vulnerable 20 (Finance Ministers of 43 countries vulnerable to climate change), GFDRR worked with the UN to develop the Global Preparedness Partnership (GPP) to help countries attain a basic level of readiness by 2020 to respond to future disasters and other risks. The GPP, announced at the World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) in May 2016, further reinforces GFDRR’s mission to strengthen recovery systems before disaster strikes.

Going forward

GFDRR will continue to support governments in recovery following disasters with increased engagements to help countries be better prepared to respond to emergencies. In addition, the Facility will continue to advance the global dialogue through International Recovery Platform. GFDRR is co- organizing the third edition of the World Reconstruction Conference (WRC3) with the EU and the UNDP in Brussels on June 6-8, 2017.