Event Summary
Organization: World Bank Group
Session Leads
- Barry Maher, World Bank Group
- Marc Forni, World Bank Group
- Asha Williams, World Bank Group
- Margaret Arnold, World Bank Group
Description
The session was led by ‘Responding to Disasters Together, a multi-disciplinary group of experts in the World Bank who look to provide comprehensive, One World Bank solutions to clients drawing on DRM, Social Protection, Finance and Community Engagement expertise.
The poor often suffer acutely from disasters, as with constrained resources they lack the ability to financially cope with their impacts. There is now a growing body of evidence that providing rapid assistance to such households post disasters is a cheaper, higher welfare outcome method of managing this risk. As a result, there are a growing number of countries developing programs that to do exactly that – channel financial assistance directly to the poor post disasters, in a transparent way. Risk information, however, is critical in this context as it is a key input to decision makers in triggering such a response.
This session explored the self-reinforcing link between risk information, including early warning / forecasting methods, and programs that protect the poor, showcasing how countries have invested in the collection of higher quality information to provide them with objective, transparent evidence to respond to disasters (and indeed how this disaster response program has driven the need for higher quality information). With natural disasters projected to increase in future years, this session was part of a broader, timely discussion on how to mitigate the impact of climate change on the poor.
Presentations
Protecting the poor from natural disasters – better data, faster response
