World Bank, the

Mission

Since its inception in 1944, the World Bank has expanded from a single institution to a closely associated group of five development institutions. The mission has evolved from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) as facilitator of post-war reconstruction and development to the present day mandate of reducing poverty and promoting shared prosperity worldwide. The five institutions composing the World Bank Group are IBRD, International Development Association (IDA), International Finance Corporation (IFC), Multilateral Guarantee Agency (MIGA), and International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). IBRD and IDA together are commonly referred to as “The World Bank,” with IBRD aiming to reduce poverty in middle-income and creditworthy poorer countries and IDA focusing exclusively on low-income countries.

The World Bank’s projects and operations are designed to support low-income and middle-income countries’ poverty reduction strategies. It does so within each country’s specific socio-economic context, adapting programmes to country capacity and needs. The World Bank provides low-interest loans, interest-free credits and grants to developing countries for a wide array of purposes that include investments in disaster recovery and risk mitigation, education, health, public administration, infrastructure, financial and private sector development, agriculture, and environmental and natural resource management. The World Bank also provides technical assistance, capacity development, policy advice, research and analysis.

While the World Bank traditionally plays a key role in post-disaster recovery and reconstruction, it has and will continue to increase its involvement in longer term disaster risk reduction. While the World Bank traditionally plays a key role in post-disaster recovery and reconstruction, it has and will continue to increase its involvement in longer term disaster risk reduction.

The Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR), a partnership financing mechanism that includes 43 country governments from developed, emerging and developing countries, as well as eight international organizations, serves as the World Bank’s focal point for disaster risk reduction and recovery. Together with major donors and the UN, the World Bank in 2006 launched GFDRR to support the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015 and thereby address the needs of vulnerable countries and provide coherent approaches globally and regionally to risk reduction and recovery by using the ISDR system. The GFDRR is managed by the World Bank on behalf of the participating donor partners and other partnering stakeholders. It offers a unique business model for advancing disaster risk reduction based on ex ante support to high risk countries and ex post assistance for accelerated recovery and risk reduction after a disaster. This partnership has been successful in raising the profile of disaster risk reduction for sustainable development. Five pillars of action provide the operational framework for GFDRR’s strategic approach: risk identification, risk reduction, preparedness, financial protection and resilient reconstruction. The World Bank’s Global Expert Team (GET) for Disaster Risk Management provides high quality rapid advisory support to Governments. support of these strategic priorities. GET consists of World Bank staff and experts from its partner organizations with global expertise in disaster risk management.

The World Bank envisions a world in which resilient societies manage and adapt to emerging disaster risks and where the human and economic impacts of disasters are reduced. The World Bank therefore aims to incorporate risk reduction into development assistance in disaster-prone countries, leveraging investments that build resilience.

The overarching objective is to mainstream disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation in country development strategies, such as Poverty Reduction Strategies (PRSP), Country Assistance Strategies (CAS), and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) to reduce vulnerabilities to natural hazards. This is done through providing analytical, technical and operational support to countries for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation.