Seychelles : Strengthening Emergency Response Management and Climate Resilience

Context and Objectives

Following Tropical Cyclone Felleng that hit the Seychelles in 2013, the World Bank approved a Development Policy Loan with Catastrophe Deferred Drawdown Option (DPL with Cat-DDO), which was established with support from the ACP-EU NDRR Program. A Cat-DDO is a contingent credit line that provides immediate liquidity to a country in the aftermath of a natural disaster.

In the context of the Cat-DDO policy dialogue, the Government of the Seychelles had requested assistance in its efforts to further strengthen disaster risk and climate resilience in the country. This ACP-EU NDRR project supported the Seychelles through the following actions:

• Strengthening disaster risk management (DRM) within the institutions of the Government, and;
• Integrating disaster risk reduction (DRR) into development planning and decision-making, thereby strengthening coastal resilience.

Main Activities

Project activities were implemented under the following components: 

Component 1: Enhancing Seychelles’ Emergency Preparedness and Response (EP&R) system

• Developing the National Integrated Emergency Management Plan
• Reviewing, updating and simplifying the District Contingency Plans of five prioritized districts (Anse Aux Pins; La Digue; Pointe La Rue; Beau Vallon, and Baie St. Anne). 

Component 2: Integrating DRR into development planning and decision making.

• Support to geospatial risk data collection and sharing.
• Support to include risk information in development projects. To further the use of risk information in development planning, in terms of (i) the development and improvement of hazard and risk information; (ii) the integration of risk information in policies and infrastructure decisions; (iii) urban and coastal planning, including the finalization and application of the Coastal Management Plan.

Main Results

Component 1 saw the release of several products, including: district protocols for emergency preparedness and response, 4 updated sector contingency plans, and a National Integrated Emergency Response Plan. National institutional abilities were reinforced to take risk information into account in decision-making for government ministries. 

Activities implemented under Component 2 resulted in the integration of risk reduction measures into coastal planning and projects. These activities improved the institutional ability of the Ministry of Environment, Energy, and Climate Change to prioritize coastal risk projects and to communicate needs for coastal management to development partners. 

Partnerships and Coordination

This project was implemented in collaboration with Government counterparts, such as the Ministry of Environment, Energy & Climate Change, and the Department of Risk and Disaster Management.

The project team worked in close coordination with the Global Climate Change Alliance +. The project activities were also aligned with the National Development Strategy and the VISION 32 Strategy.