Understanding Risk (UR) Central America

UR Central America took place from February 12-14 at the Convention Center in San José, Costa Rica. This conference aimed to build strategic alliances among experts, organizations, academic institutions, and other key stakeholders to move from risk understanding to action in disaster resilience. Through regional collaboration and integration processes, UR Central America presented best practices and innovations for understanding disaster and climate risk, and explored a variety of topics, from disruptive technologies to community engagement, that can be used to improve disaster risk management in the region.

The three-day program included four thematic areas with plenary sessions, workshops, and technical sessions, all of which were crowdsourced, sharing innovative approaches to disaster risk management, climate change adaptation, and resilience building. The coordination of the sessions involved collaboration with various countries, partners, and the UR community to provide participants with a combination of engaging discussions, learning experiences, panels, roundtables, interactive training sessions, decision-making simulations, workshops, and much more.

The World Bank and GFDRR partnered with the Central American Integration System (SICA), the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), and NASA to design the event.

Why Central America?

Central America faces multiple natural hazards and socioeconomic and environmental challenges that make it one of the most vulnerable regions in the world. As the frequency and magnitude of disaster impacts increase, the risks to secure development also rise — from food insecurity to the loss of livelihoods. These ongoing disasters could affect a significant portion of the regional population in the coming decades, further eroding efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Despite these challenges, significant progress has been made, making it essential to continue working toward risk-sensitive and sustainable development in the face of the region's challenges. 

What is Understanding Risk?

Understanding Risk (UR) is an open, global community of individuals and institutions working to create, communicate, and use disaster risk information. The community organizes global and regional conferences to highlight best practices, facilitate public-private partnerships, and share the latest technical knowledge in disaster risk identification.