International Financial Institutions

The five institutions of the World Bank are the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), International Development Association (IDA), International Finance Corporation (IFC), Multilateral Guarantee Agency (MIGA), and International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

The World Bank's projects and operations are designed to support low-income and middle-income countries' poverty reduction strategies. The 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, infrastructure, financial and private sector development, and environmental and natural resource management. Although the World Bank has traditionally played a key role in post-disaster recovery and reconstruction, it has been increasing its involvement in longer term disaster risk reduction.

The overarching objective is to mainstream disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation in country development strategies.

The World Bank supports country development strategies, such as Poverty Reduction Strategies (PRSP), Country Assistance Strategies (CAS), United Nations Development Assistance Frameworks (UNDAFs), and National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPAs), to reduce vulnerabilities to natural hazards. This is done through providing analytical, technical and operational support to countries for disaster risk reduction.

The World Bank integrates disaster risk reduction into development strategies primarily through the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery.

Established in 2006 by major donors, the UN, and the World Bank, the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) is a partnership with a mission to mainstream disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA) in country development strategies by supporting a country-led and managed implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA). The GFDRR is managed by the World Bank and consists of 36 countries and 6 international organizations.

GFDRR has three main business lines to achieve its development objectives:

• Track-I: Global and Regional Partnerships
• Track-II: Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction in Development
• Track-III: Standby Recovery Financing Facility (SRFF) for Accelerated Disaster Recovery

UNISDR works with GFDRR to undertake global and regional processes to promote the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action.

This partnership is built upon a joint annual work plan through Track-I that is supported by the World Bank's Development Grant Facility and implemented by UNISDR. Through advocacy and continuous engagement with key regional organizations and global partners, the partnership has helped to raise the profile of disaster risk reduction as a key priority for policy-makers, governments and practitioners, thereby building a demand for more targeted country Disaster Risk Management (DRM) programs, particularly in high-risk, low- and middle-income countries.