Disaster Risk Management

The Philippines has one of the most dynamic economies in the East Asia Pacific region. It has nearly doubled GDP per capita over the past two decades. But the Philippines’ high exposure to natural hazards poses a major threat to its people and economic growth. These events inflict large costs on the economy, which are borne disproportionately by the poor and vulnerable.

Seismic-resilient schools built with GFDRR support in Türkiye withstood the worst of the shocks brought about by the February 2023 earthquakes. They have become temporary shelters providing earthquake survivors a safe space and operations centers for the coordination and distribution of aid.

The rapid pace of urbanization frequently surpasses the development of necessary infrastructure, leading to the proliferation of unplanned, informal settlements. Addressing this challenge requires current, detailed information to effectively integrate these areas into formal urban planning processes. In Nairobi, Kenya, a groundbreaking initiative, supported by GFDRR, has leveraged digital public works to bridge this information gap. Engaging local home-based workers, the project successfully executed over 1.3 million compensated digital tasks that informed the World Bank's Kenya Informal Settlements Improvement Project.

GFDRR's Global Program on Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) for Climate Resilience developed the NBS Opportunity Scan, which uses high-resolution geospatial data and a sophisticated analytical approach to map investment opportunities in cities and along coastlines worldwide. Access to actionable information that outlines opportunities for NBS investments at early stages of project design is essential for enabling the scale-up of these solutions, which can effectively reduce climate risks, while bringing important socioeconomic benefits. 

GFDRR ensures that infrastructure investments are resilient to the impact of severe hazards. It combines deep technical expertise across engineering, economics, climate, and disaster risk management to create the best available global knowledge on resilient infrastructure and connects this with local expertise and capacity — directly informing government policy decisions and investments as governments plan, deliver, and operate infrastructure assets.

In the last 18 years, GFDRR has played an important role in helping the World Bank move beyond just disaster response and recovery to prioritize prevention, preparedness, and anticipatory action. This video looks at how GFDRR has helped Tonga, Colombia, Romania, and the Philippines in scaling up development and resilience impacts by emphasizing disaster risk reduction.