All over the world people are at risk from natural hazards, such as earthquakes, severe storms, floods or droughts. About 200 million people are affected by disasters every year. Although extreme natural events now claim fewer lives, economic losses have risen significantly. More and more people settle in densely populated and disaster prone areas, and also the risk of damage to public and private infrastructure and assets is increasing with their growing concentration in exposed regions. Disaster risks are often not considered in the continuing rapid development of urban areas and economic zones. The consequences for the sustainability of public and private investments can be disastrous. Short-term disruptions or failures of Critical Infrastructures such as energy and water supply or telecommunications can affect large parts of the population and can lead to devastating supply shortfalls. Thus, the protection and the development of resilient Critical Infrastructure is a priority in disaster risk management. Advisory services and innovative technological solutions are in demand to be applied in the broader field of urban resilience.
In its Global Assessment Report (GAR) 2015, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) has found that worldwide economic losses due to disasters have risen to about 250 to 300 billion US dollars annually. It also estimates that an investment of 6 billion US dollars annually in disaster risk management would result in avoided losses of 360 billion US dollars over the next 15 years.
Effective disaster risk management requires not only financial investments, but also new partnerships between governments, civil society, academia and the private sector to respond to the challenges ahead. The Global Initiative on Disaster Risk Management (GIDRM) was founded by the German Government and is led by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) to strengthen the German contribution to improved disaster risk management worldwide.
GIDRM offers a networking forum for German and international experts and service providers to match the global demand with sustainable solutions and innovative technologies in disaster risk management, combining well-proven national and international disaster risk management approaches with German services, products and technologies.
The Global Initiative has three priority areas:
Disaster Response Preparedness and Civil Protection
Critical Infrastructure and Risk-sensitive Economic Cycles
Early Warning Systems
In cooperation with its partners from the public and private sector, academia and civil society, GIDRM co-creates innovative solutions to meet the challenges posed by disaster risks. By fostering partnerships and providing a forum for new and innovative ways of collaboration in disaster risk management, Germany contributes to the global efforts of minimising losses and damages caused by disasters. To effectively reduce the impacts of disasters, risk factors have to be identified and tailor-made solutions developed. To achieve this it is important to raise risk awareness, to encourage knowledge-sharing between experts and decision makers and to create space for innovation across regions.
More about the project Website
- Mr. Stephan Huppertz
Regional Coordinator Asia
Tel:+66 2 288 1589
The United Nations Building
Rajdamnern Nok Avenue
10200 Bangkok, Thailand