We are living in an age where chronic instability, civil wars, the global shock of the pandemic, and continued climate disasters have created a complex landscape of intertwined risks, exacerbating fragility. Countries need help prevent, prepare for, and deal with crises in a way that does not divert them from their development goals. Against this backdrop, the World Bank is evolving to become a better bank to serve the world's most vulnerable people. This event will convene key actors to explore ideas and partnerships that can better respond to today’s challenges.

This two-day workshop was based on Romania’s experience in improving its critical emergency management infrastructure and served as a platform for experts, practitioners, and key stakeholders to exchange knowledge and experiences in the realm of disaster risk management. It delved into crucial discussions, facilitated by interactive activities and field visits. 

On June 23, 2023, GFDRR's City Resilience Program organized a roundtable on urban resilience and private sector investment in affiliation with the Summit for a New Global Financial Pact held in Paris that same week. The event, organized in partnership with the Sciences Po Urban School, brought together city and government officials, DRM experts, civil society, academia, the private sector, and the World Bank to discuss the challenges and opportunities of investing in urban resilience in African cities. 

An infrastructure design firm from Japan provided hands-on training and capacity building on physical hydraulic modeling of large river hydraulic structures over the course of two weeks in Tokyo (lectures) and Tsukuba (experiment).

GFDRR Partnership Days will showcase the impact the facility’s activities are creating on the ground in building resilience to natural hazards. 

GFDRR 2023 Partnership Days attendees had the opportunity to tour the Averted Disaster Award (ADA) photo exhibit, which displayed the work of the organization Build Change, the 2022 ADA runner-up. Developed in collaboration with Nikon and the WaterBear Network, the exhibit featured photographs captured by the London-based photographer Hermeilio Miguel Aquino (Kino). It also provided a powerful visual representation of the vital efforts undertaken to prevent and mitigate the impact of disasters worldwide.

Participants of the GFDRR 2023 Partnership Days had the opportunity to immerse themselves in the Safer Schools exhibit, a virtual reality experience that recreated an elementary school classroom in Peru facing the impact of a magnitude-8 earthquake. Through VR goggles and a vibrated backpack, participants witnessed the importance of making buildings more resilient and ensuring the safety of school communities.

On May 15-19, 2023, the City Resilience Program, in partnership with the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the City Climate Finance Gap Fund, and the World Bank's Global Practice for Urban, Disaster Risk Management, Resilience, and Land, engaged with more than 40 officials and decision-makers from 15 African cities to enhance their capacity for urban resilience planning, including by fostering greater collaboration and knowledge sharing.