Disaster Risk Management

ADB's proactive disaster risk management program reduces country vulnerabilities to risks and responds faster to impacts

Pick any year! In 2005, 246 (42%) of 650 severe natural hazard events recorded globally occurred in Asia, killing over 97,000 (90% of the global total of 110,000 individuals) and affecting more than 150 million people. In 2006, 174 separate disasters affected 28 million people in Asia and the Pacific. In 2008, 9 of the top 10 countries worldwide with the highest number of disaster-related deaths were in Asia. In fact, an average year sees $39.5 billion in physical losses from disasters throughout Asia.

National and regional disasters are an ongoing development challenge. They disproportionately affect poor countries and poor people. And they frequently disrupt development efforts, cause sharp increases in poverty, and set back the pace of social and economic progress.

Asia is in particular need of disaster risk management assistance. About $15 billion is typically required annually to restore the infrastructure and economic momentum of countries in the region affected by disasters. And an estimate of up to 1% of the region's gross national income (about $40 billion) is required to put needed disaster risk management infrastructure in place.

Taking a proactive approach to disaster risk management

Until recently, most organizations created poverty reduction strategies that viewed disasters as interruptions to development rather than as a risk integral to development. Not ADB.

In 1987, we became the first multilateral development bank to have a dedicated disaster policy. It is a policy based on this premise: hazards need not lead to disasters.

Yes, hazards affect vulnerable populations disproportionately. But vulnerability can be reduced by controlling disaster risk.

ADB's proactive approach systematically applies disaster risk management to local, national, and regional practices. We make risk reduction an integral part of governance. And we develop our disaster risk management, poverty reduction, and inclusive growth strategies hand-in-hand.

By making disaster risk management a primary consideration in development planning, ADB not only protects hard-won progress in poverty reduction and sustainable development but we also help prevent increases in disaster risk through poorly planned economic growth.

In April 2009, ADB expanded its disaster assistance approach by introducing an Asia Pacific Disaster Response Fund (APDRF) that will provide immediate financial aid to member countries following a declaration of a state of national disaster.

Incorporating a robust disaster and emergency policy and action plan

ADB's Disaster and Emergency Assistance Policy (DEAP) encompasses health emergencies and country conflict situations, as well as environmental, technological, and natural geophysical and hydro-meteorological hazards. It is a flexible policy broad enough to include contingencies such as climate change. And it is an integrated policy that ensures disaster risk considerations are built into individual project designs and ADB's country partner strategies for development.

The policy is implemented through our DEAP Action Plan, which embeds disaster risk management in ADB's operational practices, and

• supports member country efforts to identify and manage risks through risk assessment, risk transfer, vulnerability reduction, and risk-reduction strategies;
• builds disaster management and hazard management capacity at the country level;
• strengthens key member country institutions involved in disaster risk management;
• assists member countries following disaster impacts by addressing immediate needs, providing early recovery measures, building greater resilience into post-impact reconstruction efforts, and identifying safer sites for relocation of essential infrastructure; and
• encourages actions that assist greater regional disaster risk management cooperation, coordination, and institutionalization.

The DEAP Action Plan also provides for enhancement of ADB's internal risk management capacity. Included are specific training programs and associated tools and guidelines that are designed, developed, and delivered for use by our regional departments and mission staff in conjunction with other development partners. The action plan has also established an informal disaster risk management network within ADB that uses, channels, and institutionalizes risk knowledge and staff experience.

Providing funding for risk prevention and disaster emergencies

ADB's regional technical assistance funding supports partners and our developing member countries on numerous levels. This may include looking closely at partner and country disaster management programs to see what's working, identifying gaps and determining what more needs to be developed; or teaming with them to build their expertise and ours so we can work better in combination.

Assistance can be broad or target-based as well. Assistance with broad dimensions includes our funding through the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center for regional stocktaking and mapping of disaster risk reduction interventions for Asia and the Pacific. Assistance with specific reach includes the $400 million earthquake emergency assistance loan we provided for the People's Republic of China (PRC). Funding will not only rebuild roads and schools but will also enable the PRC to review and update its disaster risk management system.

Moving ahead with our disaster risk management programs

For more than two decades, ADB has been engaged in at least one environmental, health, natural hazard, or conflict emergency project every month—spending nearly $8 billion in disaster-related assistance. Plus, we have been active in knowledge sharing through conferences, workshops, and published papers. Now, going forward, we will be even more proactive.

We are exploring new and better ways to cooperate with disaster risk management programs that operate in our member countries. We will further encourage the role played by civil society organizations in emergency preparedness and crisis response. And we will investigate socially responsible ways the private sector can become a part of the risk management equation. Disaster risk management plays and will continue to play an important part in ADB activities and our development planning future.