GFDRR finances demand-driven technical assistance through a number of implementing partners. Financing Windows include a multi-donor trust fund (MDTF) funded by all donor members of GFDRR and two special programs financed by the European Union and Japan.

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Multi-Donor Trust Fund

FY16 Overview

68

new projects across 50 countries

196

grants totaling $140m

60

new publications and policy notes

The Multi-Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) is the central vehicle through which GFDRR achieves its ambition. The MDTF finances the implementation of GFDRR’s mission to help build resilient societies that manage and adapt to emerging disaster and climate risks, and contribute to the substantial reduction of disaster risk and losses. It implements activities as outlined in the annual Work Plan and approved by the CG, which provides strategic direction to the Facility. As a result, the program funded through the MDTF is reflective of the full scope of expertise that GFDRR offers.

The MDTF pools funding from all of GFDRR’s donors, enabling a coordinated approach for scaling up disaster resilience and reducing fragmentation of financing that often is detrimental to achieving large-scale impact. The MDTF continues to finance activities that mainstream DRM into national as well as global development priorities. For example, in addition to the Country Program, the MDTF finances GFDRR’s efforts to promote global dialogues and initiatives, as well as develop knowledge products and innovative tools.

The Country Program: As described earlier in the report, GFDRR implements the majority of its activities through the Country Program. In FY16, grants from the MDTF supported over 50 countries to mainstream DRM in their investment strategies. With financing from the MDTF, GFDRR supports countries to implement policies and activities that target coherence across development. Additionally, financing from the MDTF allows GFDRR to maintain thematic initiatives that provide specialized technical support to the Country Program.

Global Dialogues and Initiatives: Through the MDTF, GFDRR engages actively in the global resilience agenda, and convenes stakeholders to scale up global action on resilience. In FY16, the MDTF financed GFDRR’s engagement in a number of international events that included the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 21st Conference of Parties, etc.

Knowledge Products and Innovative Tools: GFDRR strives to remain a global leader in convening and sharing knowledge and best practices within the DRM community. In FY16, the MDTF financed the production of over 60 publications such as Shockwaves: Managing the Impacts of Climate Change on Poverty, as well as new innovative tools such as ThinkHazard!, among others.

THE MDTF AS A STRATEGIC FINANCING INSTRUMENT

GFDRR has effectively utilized the MDTF as a strategic tool to explore new initiatives and promote global dialogue and knowledge exchanges while maintaining its support for county programs. In the first five years of the MDTF, support for global dialogue and the development of knowledge products and tools averaged 18 percent of MDTF financing. Over the last five years, this average increased to 33 percent of MDTF financing. Over the same period of time, financing for country programs through the MDTF remained relatively stable.

GFDRR has supported an increasingly diverse number of projects for the past ten years, which has been critical to meeting its strategic agenda. Through these projects, GFDRR has been able to facilitate knowledge exchanges by organizing and hosting events such as Understanding Risk and the World Reconstruction Conference (WRC); promote the disaster risk management agenda at the international level by supporting events such as the Resilience Dialogue Series, the Asian Ministerial Conference on DRR, and the World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR) in Sendai, and exploring new initiatives such as strengthened civil society partnerships, the Global Program for Safe Schools, the Open Data for Resilience Initiative (OpenDRI), and the Building Regulations for Resilience Program.

THE CONSULTATIVE GROUP

The Consultative Group (CG) is GFDRR’s primary decision-making and advisory body. It is composed of Members and Observers.

GFDRR’s members include countries, intergovernmental organizations, international financial institutions, and UN agencies that commit to contributing at least $3 million or an equivalent amount over a three-year period to the MDTF. To encourage the participation of developing countries as Members, the threshold for contribution is much lower, equivalent to $500,000 over a three-year period. Similarly, developing countries that receive GFDRR support can be invited to serve as non-contributing members, when invited by the CG for a one-year renewable term.

GFDRR’s Observers include prospective Members for the CG as well as intergovernmental organizations, international financial institutions, and UN agencies whose activities complement GFDRR’s mission. Additionally, developing countries, civil society organizations, private sector organizations and foundations are also invited as observers as agreed by the CG.

The CG meets twice a year to ensure coherence in discussion regarding current and future directions of the Facility’s work program. The meetings are often accompanied by a Knowledge Partnership Day, which provides a platform for GFDRR’s extensive network of partners to showcase their work and draw on synergies with the engagements of different players in the DRM community. Each year, a co-chair is selected by consensus among Members for a one-year term. In FY16, Germany served as the co-chair of the CG and Switzerland was appointed to succeed Germany for a one- year term in FY17.

The Africa Caribbean and Pacific-European Union Programs

FY16 Overview

9

new projects in Côte d'Ivoire, Dominica, DR Congo, Fiji, Lesotho, Saint Lucia, Seychelles, Suriname, and one ACP-EU-wide project

80

ongoing projects in 40 countries equivalent to $53 million

3

PDNAs supported in Dominica, Fiji, and Seychelles

The Africa Caribbean and Pacific Program (ACP)-European Union (EU) Natural Disaster Risk Reduction (NDRR) was launched in 2011 to support DRR and climate change adaptation activities. With $75.6 million in contributions from the EU, the Program is managed by GFDRR in close collaboration with the ACP Secretariat.

The Program’s objective is to strengthen climate and disaster resilience in ACP countries by focusing on GFDRR’s priorities: (i) mainstreaming DRR; (ii) risk identification and risk reduction; (iii) early warning systems and communication; and (iv) risk transfer and integration of DRR and recovery. The ACP-EU program also supports knowledge-sharing activities and targeted analytical work. As of FY16, projects are active in more than 40 countries.

Regional-level projects strengthen regional and sub-regional cooperation to advance ACP countries’ national disaster risk reduction agendas.

Country-level projects provide demand- driven technical assistance for DRR and climate adaptation policy development and implementation. This helps strengthen the technical advisory capacity in ACP countries.

Post-disaster and capacity-building activities offer quick support to ACP countries after a disaster strikes. With rapid technical assistance, GFDRR supports countries to build back better, strengthen ex-ante capacity for PDNAs, and foster mainstreaming of DRR in recovery planning. In FY16, three post- disaster assessments were financed under the ACP-EU NDRR Program in Dominica after Tropical Storm Erika, in Fiji after Tropical cyclone Winston and in Seychelles post Tropical Cyclone Fantala. In Fiji, the World Bank provided the Government with a $50 million emergency development policy operation following the PDNA.

GFDRR’S PARTNERSHIP WITH THE EUROPEAN UNION

The EU is a key partner to GFDRR as well as its single largest donor. The largest part of this collaboration focuses on improving climate and disaster resilience through various programs in the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP). Collaboration with the EU has expanded since 2014, with new programs launched to support DRM activities in South Asia and Serbia, as well as support for thematic initiatives such as disaster risk financing.

Alongside GFDRR and other key partners, the EU has also played an active role in supporting the partnership of GFDRR, the World Bank, the EU, USAID and Japan, which has focused on local action to address fragility and disaster resilience. The EU and GFDRR jointly push for effective integration of DRM into the global development agenda and links among DRM, poverty reduction, and climate change adaptation.

The tripartite agreement, which is a joint declaration by the EU, the UN, and the World Bank, on Post-Crisis Assessments and Recovery Planning, aims to mobilize partners and their resources to harmonize and better coordinate post-crisis frameworks. GFDRR plays a key role on coordinating action across the three actors, as well as with other international and domestic actors. These institutions have collaborated on more than 40 post-disaster assessments since 2008, and more recently, jointly issued a PDNA Guide and a Recovery Framework in 2015 at the World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction.

Building Disaster Resilience in Sub-Saharan Africa

Building Disaster Resilience to Natural Hazards in Sub-Saharan African Regions, Countries and Communities was launched at the Financing for Development Conference in Addis Ababa in July 2015. The overall objective of this initiative is to strengthen the resilience of sub-Saharan African regions. To achieve this objective, five Result Areas were identified and are being implemented by several partners, including the African Development Bank (AfDB), African Union Commission (AUC), United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) and the World Bank. GFDRR helped coordinate the World Bank’s engagement in two of the result areas—Result 2 ($24 million) and Result 5 ($24 million).

The African Regional Economic Communities Program (RECs) (Result 2) contributes to developing the coordination capacity of RECs by enhancing their coordination, planning, and policy advisory capacities. Participating RECs include the Economic Community for Central African States (ECCAS), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

As of FY16, activities implemented focused on policy dialogue, flood management, risk management, preparedness, and capacity building:

  • ECCAS established a new DRR unit and launched the Central Africa Parliamentarians Network for Natural Disasters Resilience
  • The ECOWAS DRR Plan of Action 2015-2030 in line with Sendai framework was drafted.
  • IGAD signed the grant agreement for the IGAD - Building Disaster Resilience through Risk Management and Climate Change Adaptation Project.
  • SADC formulated a comprehensive work program for 2016 and 2017.

The Africa Disaster Risk Financing (ADRF) initiative (Result 5), structured along three components, aims to support the development of multi-risk financing strategies at regional, national, and local levels to help countries make informed decisions. In FY16, about 800 people were trained on DRM and a number of outputs were delivered: five risk profiles, two studies, four diagnostic reports, and one conference.

  • Component 1: Creating the enabling data environment for risk financing. Multi-hazard risk profiles were developed for Ethiopia, Kenya, Niger, Senegal, and Uganda.
  • Component 2: Supporting countries in developing risk financing strategies. Engagement began with 11 countries on identifying countries’ need and priorities in risk financing.
  • Component 3: Facilitating regional risk financing and knowledge sharing initiatives. The UR&F Conference attracted 450 participants and a wide range of African partners including AfDB, Addis Ababa University, African Risk Capacity (ARC) and others.

Japan-World Bank Program for Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Management in Developing Countries

FY16 Overview

24

projects in 37 countries, of which 11 started in FY16

33

events that reached over 2,000 people

9

new projects started to facilitate knowledge exchanges

The Japan-World Bank Program for Mainstreaming DRM in Developing Countries was launched in 2014 to help developing countries integrate DRM into national development planning and investment programs. Managed by GFDRR, this technical assistance program is financed by a $100 million contribution from the Ministry of Finance, Japan (MoF).

As of FY16, the Japan-World Bank Program has supported activities in over 37 countries. It has also enabled knowledge activities that build country capacity through documenting and sharing best practices in DRM. The Japan Program supports a DRM Hub, Tokyo, which enhances GFDRR’s activities by connecting Japanese expertise and knowledge in DRM to country demand on the ground. Specific areas of focus include: (i) resilient infrastructure; (ii) resilient cities; (iii) science and technology for resilience; and (iv) inclusive resilience.

GFDRR’S PARTNERSHIP WITH JAPAN

Japan has been a member of GFDRR and a strong partner of the Facility since its inception in 2007. The partnership between GFDRR and Japan expanded after the devastating 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. As a result, in 2014, Japan launched the Japan-World Bank Program for Mainstreaming DRM in Developing Countries.

The program has facilitated a number of partnerships with Japanese counterparts from government. This includes the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), MoF, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, and the Ministry of Education, academia and research institutes, and the private sector through platforms like the Japan Bosai Platform.

Through the Japan Program, in FY16, GFDRR has fostered collaboration with JICA on the ground. This includes operational coordination and financing for resilience investments in Bangladesh and Nepal; training for better hydromet services in the Pacific and coordinating dialogue on risk-reduction and risk-financing investments in the Philippines.

SHARING JAPANESE EXPERTISE WITH PARTNERS

One important aspect of the partnership with Japan is to provide developing country DRM practitioners with a better understanding of how to integrate and apply DRM lessons and approaches in domestic policies and contexts. In FY16, the DRM Hub, Tokyo developed and organized Technical Deep Dives (TDD) in partnership with the World Bank’s Tokyo Development Learning Center (TDLC). Intensive multi-day knowledge exchanges, TDDs are designed to bring public officials and teams from developing countries to Japan to share relevant experience and solutions applicable to project design and implementation.

The first TDD was held in April 2016 and focused on integrated urban flood risk management. This TDD provided partners from Argentina, Ghana, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Madagascar, Nigeria, Solomon Islands, and Vietnam first-hand knowledge on this topic, and also engaged Government of Japan counterparts and the World Bank’s Urban Floods Community of Practice.

Participants strengthened their knowledge of the challenges faced within their home countries and learned from the experiences of others, including Japan. They gained practical lessons on topics including the importance of institutional and legal reforms, stakeholder coordination, integration of structural and non-structural measures, and risk-informed land-use planning.

TDDs have proved to be an important way to connect the ongoing operational needs of countries with experts. Following their participation in the April TDD, government officials and teams working in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam requested support to enhance the quality of a planned flood control center as part of a larger-scale investment in flood risk management. GFDRR and TDLC worked together to connect them with experts from MLIT, JICA, the University of Tokyo, and Tokyo University. They also brought officials from the City of Yokohama, Japan, which faces tremendous river and flood hazards, to inform a workshop on next steps for the project in Ho Chi Minh.