World Bank technical assistance boosts Djibouti’s disaster risk management

• Date:28 Mar 2011
• Source(s):World Bank, the (WB)

Overview

Through the World Bank-managed Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR), Djibouti is addressing the need to strengthen its capacity to assess and communicate its risks and vulnerabilities to natural disasters. This approach will strengthen the capacity of national agencies in disaster prevention, assessment, and preparedness so as to reduce the impacts of natural hazards and climate change on the country's population and economy. The Djibouti Center for Research Studies (CERD), the World Bank's counterpart in this initiative, has already established a damage and loss inventory database, allowing the government to systematize and quantify damage and losses after a natural disaster.

Challenge

Djibouti lacks a clearly defined leader for disaster risk management and ambiguities between the roles of line ministries in this regard persist in spite of the 2006 establishment of the Executive Secretariat for Risk and Disaster Management. Furthermore, there is limited perception and understanding of natural disaster risk among key stakeholders and within government agencies. Engagement during preparation of the three-year Disaster Risk Management program revealed that competition among national agencies might hinder project implementation.Continued