GFDRR is promoting innovative and cost-effective local solutions to disaster risk reduction that can have high impact, such as those that catalyze the integration of disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation in poverty reduction and Country Assistance Strategies, increase South-South cooperation in disaster risk reduction and mainstreaming disaster risk reduction in development financing. The program, the first of its kind, is anchored by the belief that expanded partnerships among developing countries are key drivers of effective risk reduction. By systematically sharing experiences and lessons learned, disaster-prone countries facing similar challenges - and operating under comparable financial and political constraints - can arrive at better solutions to climate change and disaster-related problems.
GFDRR's South-South Cooperation Program fosters innovation through increased cooperation among Southern governments and research institutions. It is a unique initiative to promote institutional cooperation among low- and middle-income disaster-prone countries to mainstream disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA) in development planning. The program focuses on sustainable policy and institutional development as opposed to one off short-term exchange cooperation. Enabling both Recipient and Bank executed projects the initiative facilitates both intra-regional and cross regional long-standing partnerships.
The South-South Cooperation Program complements the GFDRR Disaster Risk Reduction Mainstreaming Program (Track II). Launched in June 2008 the initiative was originally financed by contributions from Italy and Norway. Currently the FY 10-12 budget cycle draws from the 20% flexible envelope agreed upon in Geneva at the 2009, 6th Consultative Group meeting.
The Program has generated tremendous interest from a large number of institutions and networks in the South keen to exchange knowledge and practice in disaster risk reduction. More than 112 partnership proposals involving 43 Southern countries sprang from the first two calls for proposals. In June 2009, GFDRR awarded the first South-South cooperation grant to create a partnership among three disaster prone cities (Makati in Philippines, Kathmandu in Nepal, and Quito in Ecuador) for the exchange of knowledge and good practices in risk-sensitive land-use planning and city emergency management systems. In early 2010, a second award was made to the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to forge partnership among the East African Countries to strengthen the countries' institutional arrangements to improve disaster preparedness and climate monitoring and prediction. The South-South Cooperation Program also develops institutional mechanism for disaster recovery and reconstruction, supporting Post Disaster Needs Assessments (PDNA) and workshops, such as in Sichuan, China, following the 2008 earthquake.
The GFDRR has awarded a grant of $300,000 to three Southern NGO’s located in India, Guatemala, and Honduras for their proposal ‘Facilitating Women’s Leadership and Forging Partnerships to Drive Local Implementation of the Hyogo Framework of Action for DRR'. Additionally, work is continuing to develop four seperate partnerships for disaster risk reduction across four geographic regions. With the cessation of requesting for proposals, the GFDRR concentrates on developing identified South-South partnerships by the World Bank regions complementing their DRR and CCA programs.The GFDRR South-South Cooperation Program’s active projects have facilitated partnerships among thirteen countries with a further cooperation between twenty seven countries and over twenty organizations currently in development.