Promoting self-reliance through capacity building for disaster response preparedness in high-risk, low and middle income countries is one of the professed objectives of GFDRR. This directly relates to the Hyogo Framework for Action. GFDRR conducts trainings and workshops at federal, provincial and local levels of vulnerable governments to build such capacity. In addition to government capacity, GFDRR also promotes capacity building in regional organizations like ASEAN, in regional technical institutions like the Arab Academy, in other MDBs/RDBs like the Asian Development Bank, and also in donor partners like the European Commission.
Disaster Recovery Planning
Countries that are vulnerable to frequent natural disasters require frequent assessments of damages and losses and recovery and reconstruction plans. Such countries are offered training programs to develop their assessment and recovery planning capacity. Such training programs include damage, loss, and needs assessments as well as contingency-planning modules. These are provided through classroom and on-the-job training to national government staff, disaster recovery professionals, World Bank and UN officials and other relevant stakeholders. The expected results include the formulation of a National Disaster Recovery Plan and enhanced capacity to conduct in-country post-disaster assessments without substantial external assistance.
GFDRR also promotes a regional approach to local, chronic, climatic distortions—like floods in West Africa—by commissioning a study of the regional causes, effects, impacts, and counter-measures that can be taken through regional cooperation initiatives aimed at disaster risk reduction.
Strengthening Social Protection
Social protection provides a temporary safety net to assist those who have lost their capacity to earn an income. Measures such as cash transfers are provided to the most vulnerable—including widows, orphans, and the disabled—until they are brought under the coverage of existing government social assistance programs. Technical assistance (TA) funding helps strengthen social protection practices through the development of effective mechanisms to identify the poor, to improve existing management information systems, and to design and implement effective and transparent payment systems for improved aid targetting.
Results include:
- Capacity and feasibility assessments, including prioritized action plans;
- Social protection tools—such as an emergency targeting module and baseline spatial, demographic, and other databases to facilitate preparation of post-disaster needs assessment (PDNA);
- Operations Manual for effective delivery of cash transfers in a post-disaster environment;
- Study tours and regional workshops on lessons learned from recent post-disaster situations.
Damage and Loss Assessment (DaLA) Training Course
This training course has been designed as an effort to develop capacity in conducting damage and loss assessment (DaLA) both within the World Bank and partner agencies. The purpose of the training is to expose participants to the conceptual framework as well as practical applications of the DaLA methodology.
Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) Training Course
This training course allows governments to lead PDNAs, a tool which offers a combination of the DaLA methodology and human recovery needs assessment methodology followed by specialized UN agencies. The training includes national capacity development exercises.