Emergency Preparedness and Response

Countries across the globe are confronting complex, multi-dimensional crises, climate impacts and other natural hazards. The GFDRR Emergency Preparedness and Response (EP&R) Thematic Area supports governments to strengthen their EP&R policies, institutions, facilities, equipment and information systems. It also offers a centralized repository of good practices for operational support and technical assistance on all aspects related to EP&R.

Key tools and products

The EP&R Thematic Area has designed a series of innovative tools aimed at strengthening the institutional capacities of governments to respond to disaster risks and emergency situations. These tools follow a rigorous framework that assess the following core elements of an EP&R system: institutional and legal frameworks, personnel, information, facilities, and equipment.
- The Lessons Learned Exercise (LLE) helps countries learn from a specific disaster event through participatory workshops, as an entry point to advocate for EP&R systems enhancement and to gather initial data and recommendations before a broader assessment. The LLE User Guide is accessible here [link forthcoming].
- The Ready2Respond or R2R Diagnostic provides a detailed understanding of existing EP&R capacities in a municipality, country or region and assesses 360 data points related to facilities, personnel, equipment, information and legal frameworks. It also leads to the development of cost-effective investment plans to address opportunities to improve points of failure in crisis response systems. The Ready2Respond Framework is accessible here. The R2R User Guide is accessible here [link forthcoming].
The EP&R thematic area offers a series of support related to Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs), which are pivotal in bolstering global emergency preparedness and response:
- The Emergency Operations Centers training e-module has been designed for practitioners globally to better understand the importance of EOCs, delving into their operational roles and importance in orchestrating disaster management and preparedness. The EOC training module is accessible here [link forthcoming].
- In addition, the EP&R thematic area provides face-to-face workshops and trainings on EOCs to government counterparts, offering hands-on sessions that help establish and improve EOCs with customized training. This aims to equip countries with the capabilities for an effective disaster response, ultimately safeguarding lives and minimizing community impact when disasters occur.
The EP&R Thematic Area is ideally positioned to assist World Bank teams and countries globally in using existing World Bank resources effectively to focus on emergency preparedness response. This is done through key World Bank crisis preparedness tools: the Contingent Emergency Response Component (CERC) and the Crisis Emergency Response Project (CERP) as part of the World Bank’s new Toolkit. The support provided from the EP&R Thematic Area can potentially lead to inform policy-level engagements including through the World Bank’s Catastrophe Deferred Drawdown Option (Cat DDO) instrument. See the Feature Story – Building Capacity through Emergency and Crisis Response [link forthcoming].

About the Program

The GFDRR Emergency Preparedness and Response (EP&R) Thematic Area supports policy reforms and builds technical capacity to develop and strengthen EP&R systems in countries globally. It does so by offering global innovative products and solutions that aim at strengthening the institutional capacities of governments to respond to disaster risks and emergency situations. The EP&R Thematic Area also manages a centralized repository of good practices for operational support and technical assistance on all aspects related to EP&R, such as for Emergency Operation Centers (EOC), fire safety, incident management systems, standard operation procedures, Legal and Institutional, resource management, or staffing.

The EP&R Thematic Area housed within GFDRR is also well positioned to assist World Bank teams and countries in using existing World Bank resources effectively to focus on emergency preparedness response. This is done through key World Bank crisis preparedness tools: the Contingent Emergency Response Component (CERC) and the Crisis Emergency Response Project (CERP) as part of the World Bank’s new Toolkit.

EP&R is a rapidly evolving filed, improving with new technologies and approaches. The GFDRR EP&R Thematic Area helps governments to stay ahead of the trends for cost-effective and efficient preparedness and response in a changing environment and that integrate cross-cutting issues such as Gender Equity and Social Inclusion, Health, and to facilitate their implementation in fragile and conflict-affected contexts.

Partners

EP&R activities are implemented by World Bank teams worldwide, and the EP&R Thematic Area also focuses on building partnerships with international EP&R partners. Over the years, this has materialized with stronger ties and collaboration with organizations such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the United States Fire Administration (FEMA), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and many other national-level EP&R institutions, Ministries or Agencies.

Resources

Core Documents