Infrastructure protection disasters resilience | Homeland Security News Wire

The new initiative, funded with $100 million from the Rockefeller Foundation, aims to institute a new model for solving the interrelated challenges of the twenty-first century such as persistent and often extreme poverty, food insecurity, and climate shocks. By better aligning humanitarian and development planning, connecting the private sector with civil society and government, and crowdsourcing innovations and solutions, the Resilience Partnership will enable communities to prepare for, withstand, and emerge stronger from shocks and stresses in a way that reduces chronic vulnerability and keeps them on the pathway to development.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Rockefeller Foundation announced the other day a $100 million Global Resilience Partnership that lays out a vision for building resilience to chronic stresses and increasing shocks in communities across Africa and Asia.

Announced at the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, the Resilience Partnership aims to institute a new model for solving the complex and interrelated challenges of the twenty-first century such as persistent and often extreme poverty, food insecurity, and climate shocks. The Foundation says that by better aligning humanitarian and development planning, connecting the private sector with civil society and government, and crowdsourcing innovations and solutions, the Resilience Partnership will enable communities to prepare for, withstand, and emerge stronger from shocks and stresses in a way that reduces chronic vulnerability and keeps them on the pathway to development.

“Disasters and shocks pose an unparalleled threat to the world’s most vulnerable communities and hamstring the global humanitarian response,” said USAID administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah.

“This new bold partnership will help the global community pivot from being reactive in the wake of disaster to driving evidence-based investments that enable cities, communities, and households to better manage and adapt to inevitable shocks. USAID is proud to partner with The Rockefeller Foundation in advancing this new model, harnessing public-private partnerships and empowering country leadership to end extreme poverty.”

The Global Resilience Partnership will focus on the Sahel, the Horn of Africa, and South and Southeast Asia, areas particularly susceptible to chronic stresses and extreme shocks. In the Horn and Sahel, some twenty-three million people were affected by food insecurity due to drought in 2011 and 2012. By 2025 in South and Southeast Asia, over 400 million people are expected to be vulnerable to flooding.

“The Global Resilience Partnership will help communities and individuals capitalize on the resilience dividend — the difference between where a region is after a shock where resilience investments have been made, compared to where the region would be if it hadn’t invested in resilience,” said Rockefeller Foundation President Dr. Judith Rodin. “We can’t always prevent shocks and stresses, but we can better prepare for them.”

The Foundation says that the need for the Resilience Partnership is clear: Over the last thirty years, total development losses as a result of recurring crises represent $3.8 trillion worldwide. The rising toll of climate change combined with population growth means more people stand in harm’s way, and many of them are already poor or vulnerable. The number of weather-related disasters has tripled in the last thirty years, and the cost is up 300 percent to $200 billion every year.

While low-income countries were hit by only 9 percent of these disasters, they represented 48 percent of all fatalities. By better coordinating current efforts, engaging new actors, and drawing on new tools like predictive analytics, the Global Resilience Partnership aims to ensure that investments are lasting and yield a resilience dividend for all.

An important feature of the Global Resilience Partnership will be a competitive Resilience Challenge — a call out to the best and brightest to present bold and innovative solutions to the toughest challenges facing the three regions. The Challenge will launch later this year and be open to non-profits, academic institutions, and the private sector, with a focus on local and regional players.

Leave a comment

Register for your own account so you may participate in comment discussion. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting. By leaving a comment, you agree to abide by our Comment Guidelines, our Privacy Policy, and Terms of Use. Please stay on topic, be civil, and be brief. Names are displayed with all comments. Learn more about Joining our Web Community.
http://www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com/dr20140808-rockefeller-foundation-usaid-launch-new-global-resilience-partnership