This rapid literature review presents and synthesises the conceptual underpinnings and evidence on the relationship between social protection, climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. Social protection instruments have been shown to be effective mechanisms for coping with shocks. The recent growth of social protection systems has shown that having systems in ...» more
Risk & resilience
Effective law and regulation for disaster risk reduction: A multi-country report
This report is intended to help prepare and implement effective legal frameworks for disaster risk management (DRM) that are adapted to a country’s needs, drawing on examples and experience from other countries. It examines aspects of different countries’ legislation according to how they address relevant themes in the HFA, as well as issues identified by state parties and the ...» more
Making Disaster Risk Management Inclusive
This briefing presents lessons from the inclusive community Resilience for sustainable Disaster Risk Management project (incRisD) in South Asia and partner programmes. It highlights the need to: 1) understand the root causes of exclusion in disaster contexts, define excluded groups, and involve them meaningfully in reducing their disaster risks; 2) create a conducive policy ...» more
What Does it Take to Mainstream Disaster Risk Management in Key Sectors?
Actions towards development must be compatible with a changing climate. This requires each country to have a plan to avoid the losses and damages associated with extreme weather and to make disaster resilience central to economic and social policies. This guide draws on the experience of CDKN’s programmes on climate-related disaster risk management (DRM) within the context of ...» more
Disaster resilience
The impacts of disasters on development, poverty and vulnerability have led to calls for improving disaster resilience – the capacity to cope with and adapt to shocks and stresses associated with natural hazards. What do we know about what can enable or constrain disaster resilience? This Topic Guide for policymakers and practitioners synthesises the evidence, approaches and ...» more
Assessing seismic risk in Ethiopia
There is limited literature available in this area. Abeye (2012) argues that an updated seismic hazard map of Africa is long overdue. In a case study analysis of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, a 1999 UNIDSR report identified as challenges an absence of previous seismic risk assessment, few specialists and limited practice in seismology and earthquake engineering, low ...» more
Localising Aid: Is it worth the risk?
This report sets out an approach for assessing the risks associated with choices of aid instruments. These risks are specific to the instrument and the recipient country. The methodology involves subjective assessments of as many as 29 risks, their outcomes, probabilities (on a 6-point scale) and risk factors. It also identifies potential mitigation strategies and the ...» more
Women’s Education Reduces Risk of Gender-Based Violence: Evidence from 33 countries
This paper studies domestic violence against women (VAW) in 33 poor countries, using household survey data from the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) and the Work, Attitudes and Spending (WAS) survey. The latter of these is a Nigerian national survey of urban and rural households. This paper used information from WAS surveys from 2003 and 2005. The article emphasises that ...» more
No Accident: Resilience and the Inequality of Risk
This paper argues that a new approach is needed for risk and poverty reduction. Major external risks, such as climate change and food price volatility, are increasing faster than attempts to reduce them. Many risks are dumped on poor people, and women face an overwhelming burden. A new focus on building resilience offers real promise to allow the poorest women and men to thrive ...» more
World Development Report 2014: Risk and Opportunity—Managing Risk for Development
The World Development Report (WDR) 2014 focuses on the process of risk management, addressing these questions: why is risk management important for development, how should it be conducted, what obstacles prevent people and societies from conducting it effectively, and how can these obstacles be overcome? It suggests five principles of public action for better risk management:Do ...» more
Measuring disaster resilience
Several agencies have developed guidance for measuring disaster resilience. One of the most comprehensive and widely-cited frameworks is Twigg’s (2009) ‘characteristics of resilience’ framework. Based on five dimensions of resilience identified in the Hyogo Framework for Action (governance, risk assessment, knowledge and education, risk management and vulnerability reduction, ...» more
Community-based disaster risk management in Pakistan
Disaster risk management (DRM), including disaster risk reduction (DRR), has received increased attention - particularly community-based DRM (CBDRM). Despite limited implementation and very limited evidence, some findings emerge: Factors of success have included: - Work that is multi-sectoral, integrated and multi-hazard. - Good programming, with high-quality analysis, ...» more
Disaster Risk Reduction and Livelihoods
This report finds that Disaster Risk Reduction programmes and research need to begin to address the gaps in DRR knowledge and programming and the increased vulnerability of certain populations and locations. Such gaps include: Limited national capacity Limited funding for DRR compared to relief efforts Lack of standardised definitions, tools, methodologies, or assessments ...» more
Financing Disaster Risk Reduction: A 20-year story of international aid
This report analyses financing for Disaster Risk Reduction over the past 20 years. It finds that overall volumes spent on disasters are a fraction of development aid, and within that the amount committed to reduce the risk of disasters is an even smaller proportion. Financing is heavily concentrated in a relatively small number of projects and in relatively few countries, with ...» more
Investing in Resilience: Ensuring a Disaster-Resistant Future
How can we ensure that the actions we know are required to strengthen resilience are actually taken? This report addresses this question by setting out a vision of a resilient future in Asia and the Pacific and then working backwards to identify potential pathways to its achievement. It highlights the importance of coordinated action, and the links between progress across ...» more
Disaster risk governance at national and sub-national levels
Though the term disaster risk governance is rarely used, there is a large body of literature that relates to the governance of disaster risk in low- and middle-income countries with a focus on national or sub-national levels. This brief helpdesk research report identifies some of the most notable literature in this area and attempts to identify common conclusions. ‘Disaster ...» more
What is the evidence of the impact of initiatives to reduce risk and incidence of sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict zones and other humanitarian crises in lower and middle-income countries? A systematic review
This review finds that implementation of conflict and crisis related-sexual violence initiatives on the ground remains very limited. It also highlights an acute lack of evaluation of such interventions, leading to insufficient evidence for the effectiveness of any interventions to address or prevent sexual violence in conflict or crisis. However, it notes that strategies appear ...» more
From Shared Risk to Shared Value – The Business Case for Disaster Risk Reduction
This 2013 edition of the Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction examines how public regulation and private investment shapes disaster risk. It finds that direct disaster losses are at least 50 percent higher than internationally reported figures. Total direct losses in 40 low- and middle-income countries amount to US$305 billion over the last 30 years; of these ...» more
Managing Famine Risk: Linking Early Warning to Early Action
This document is the final report of a Chatham House research project on the barriers that hinder appropriate response to early warning of slow-onset food crises. It finds that famine risk is well understood but badly managed. Famine early warning does not lead to early action, often because of governments' perceptions of political risk: changing the status quo requires that ...» more
Regional and national capacity to cope with humanitarian risk
Key findings: There are few frameworks for assessing the capacity to cope with humanitarian risks at national scales, and those that exist vary greatly from one country to another; no clear common set of indicators is readily discernible. In general, however, the importance of governance, institutions, planning capacity and information management capacity have been frequently ...» more
