IDB helping strengthen national disaster risk management

A project that seeks to strengthen the Disaster Risk Management system of the country is getting support from the Inter-American Development Bank.

And government agencies, the Private Sector Commission and international developmental partners were recently briefed on the IDB Disaster Risk Indicators and Flood Risk Evaluation Methodology, a release said.

The briefing was done at a workshop at the Civil Defence Commission headquarters on Thomas Lands, Georgetown, on November 30.

This  formed part of the joint initiative between the government of Guyana and the IDB titled “Design and Implement an Integrated Disaster Risk Management Plan”.

The consultants, of the indicators, Evalu-cion de Riesgos Naturales, took participants through a one-day session on the application of the tools highlighting their roles in the process.

According to the release, the indicators take into account issues such as potential damage and losses resulting from extreme events; recurrent disasters or losses; social and environmental conditions that make countries more disaster prone, the capacity of the economy to recover; the operation of key services; institutional capacity and the effectiveness of basic disaster risk management  instruments that include prevention and mitigation.

At the end of the process which is expected to take twelve months, the government is expected to receive these indicators that will assist policymakers in identifying investment priority areas to reduce risk and direct the post-disaster recovery process.

The indicators will also assist in identifying national risk management capacities and promote the exchange of technical information for public policy formulation.

Further outcomes of this will be the development of a risk database and hazard maps that will greatly assist in financial and sectoral planning, the release concluded.