25 November 2014, UCL, London

Natural disasters have caused damages of nearly £3 trillion over the past 30 years and the frequency and intensity of these powerful storms, droughts and earthquakes continue to rise.

The Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) in the World Bank, in partnership with University College London and Habitat for Humanity and in association with the UK Shelter Forum organised a public presentation and discussion on how vulnerable countries can better prepare before disaster strikes and better plan and execute post disaster recovery and reconstruction programmes to contribute to sustainable development and resilience.

The event was open to humanitarian and development stakeholders involved in disaster preparedness, risk reduction, emergency response, reconstruction and development, research or practice.

This event in London followed the second World Reconstruction Conference (WRC 2) held in the World Bank Headquarters in Washington DC in September 2014 which featured the launch of joint EU-UN-World Bank GFDRR Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) Guide and Disaster Recovery Framework (DRF) Guide, as well as ten country case studies.

The presentation and discussion included:

• The World Bank’s ongoing efforts to build consensus and collective action on resilient recovery, to ensure efficient and effective post disaster reconstruction and to increase readiness including stronger government recovery systems.
• The role of civil society working with communities in the implementation of humanitarian, reconstruction and development programmes.
• The importance of research, knowledge and capacity development to support resilient recovery.

The session offered a unique opportunity for dialogue between policy makers and practitioners as part of a process of consultation towards greater collaboration and more effective action.

For further information on WRC 2 and the DRF Guide, see:

https://www.gfdrr.org/WRC2

http://reliefweb.int/report/world/guide-developing-disaster-recovery-frameworks-world-reconstruction-conference-version

About the World Bank GFDRR : Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery
The Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) helps high risk, low income developing countries better understand and reduce their vulnerabilities to natural hazards, and adapt to climate change. Working with over 300 partners-mostly local government agencies, civil society and technical organizations- GFDRR provides grant financing, on the ground technical assistance to mainstream disaster mitigation policies into country level strategies and a range of training and knowledge sharing activities. GFDRR is managed by the World Bank and funded by 21 donor partners.

The 15th UK Shelter Forum was hosted by CARE and Arup on Monday 24th November 2014. You can download the agenda here and the briefing note for day 1 here. The briefing from day 2 will be posted shortly.

Topics covered in this forum include