Integrating Disaster Risk Reduction Into CCA and UNDAF
Draft Guidance Note

Guidelines for Integrating Disaster Risk Reduction into CCA/UNDAF
October 2006

The Secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR)
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

As part of the Secretary General’s 1997 reform agenda to make the United Nations an effective institution for the challenges and new developments in the 21st century and to articulate a coherent vision and strategy for a unified approach towards common development goals at country level, the Common Country Assessment (CCA) and United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) were adopted as strategic planning tools for the UN System to better support national efforts to achieve sustainable development within the context of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The CCA/UNDAF process is undertaken at country level by the UN Country Team (UNCT) in close collaboration with Government, Stakeholders, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO), Civil Society, Bretton Woods Institutions and the private sector.

This note is intended to provide guidance to the UNCT and the UN Resident Co-ordinator System (RCs) on mainstreaming disaster risk reduction (DRR ) into the CCA/UNDAF process. It focuses primarily on disasters caused by vulnerability to natural hazards rather than, for example, those related to conflict/civil unrest. However, the guidelines may also be useful for UNCT’s dealing with other risks, for example those related to industrial hazards and economic shocks. The guidance is aimed predominantly at RCs in highly disaster-prone countries. However, it also applies to all countries where development efforts are likely to be challenged by disaster impacts.

Disasters caused by vulnerability to natural hazards exert an enormous toll on development. In so doing they pose a significant threat to prospects for achieving the MDGs, in particular the overarching target of halving extreme poverty by 2015. In many countries, the process of development itself has a huge impact, both positive and negative, on disaster risk. Countries that face similar patterns of natural hazards often experience widely differing impacts when disaster occurs. This varying impact depends in large part on the kind of development choices they have made. The only solution for this is a concerted effort directed towards DRR interventions in development approaches.Integrating disaster risk reduction assessments as part of the CCA process and DRR measures into the planned activities and outcomes of the UNDAF is an important component for minimizing and managing risks in national development efforts.