From Disaster Response to Prevention: Companion Paper to the Disaster Risk Management Policy

The aim of the Policy on Disaster Risk Management favorably reviewed by the Board of Execution Directors of the IDB on February 28, 2007 is to provide clear directives for the Bank to ensure that its assistance supports proactive disaster risk management. It represents the Bank's continued commitment to protect and help generate economic and social development in the region. This paper provides background and context for the new policy. It underscores the need for reducing vulnerability in Latin American and the Caribbean and establishes the merits of a shift to proactive disaster risk management embodied in the policy.