Collaboration with
Asian Water Cycle InitiativeJanuary 12, 2017
GEOSS Asia- Pacific Symposium
Toshihiro Sonoda

Senior Disaster Risk Management SpecialistGlobal Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR)- Established to help implementation of Hyogo Framework for Actions and tomainstream Disaster and Climate Risk Management, through:• Grant Financing: relatively small grant to support disaster risk management
and sometime consequently leverage much amount of investment (e.g.
flood risk assessment as basis for risk reduction planning);• Technical Assistance: provide expertise and knowledge through directadvisory and supervision to preparation and implementation of ongoing/pipeline disaster risk management projects (e.g. Vietnam NaturalHazards Management Project);• Training and Knowledge Sharing: conduct targeted training for World Bank
clients and staff (e.g. Technical Deep Dive on Urban Flood Risk Management)
and produce knowledge products such as Analytical Reports, Guidelines andKnowledge Notes also for global development community to support
disaster risk management, upon needs of WB clients. (e.g. Unbreakable)

Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR)- Five Pillars of Action• Risk Identification: Recognizing, assessing, and understanding risks from
1 natural hazards and climate change as the first steps toward reducing theiradverse effects;• Risk Reduction: Through technical advice, capacity building, and2 implementation assistance, GFDRR supports countries to maximize theimpact of their investments in risk reduction;• Preparedness: Improve forecasting and early warning systems, contingency
3 and emergency response plans, and protocols to help local communities
anticipate, prepare for, and quickly respond to disasters;• Financial Protection: Support countries to develop and implement tailored
4 financial protection strategies that increase the ability of national andsubnational governments, homeowners, businesses, agricultural producers,
and low income populations to respond quickly to disasters;
Recovery: Equip with the necessary skills and resources to conduct
5 • Resilient
their own post-disaster assessments and resilient reconstruction planning,and supporting the implementation of large reconstruction programs.

Opportunities and Challenges for collaboration• Target: SDGs is common with global community. Especially the World Bank(WB) aims to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity;• Role: The World Bank is a vital source of financial and technical assistance todeveloping countries around the world. Not a bank in the ordinary sense but
a unique partnership to reduce poverty and support development;• Motivation:- Influence on global agenda- Expectation to get lacked/missing experience and expertise within WB;- Keen to learn innovative approach. (e.g. many BBLs on spatial data).
• Challenge:- Variety of expertise within WB;- Quick delivery and solid achievement.
Always question is how to apply to WB operations concretely.

Possible Collaboration
Collaboration with AWCI might be considered in the areas:

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Jointly facilitate “Integrated River Basin Management”, or“River Basin Approach for Integrated Water Resources
Management (IWRM)” which, especially in Asia, should
include flood and drought disaster risk management;
Select pilot river basins where holistic approach for water
related disaster risk management would be conducted;
Identify needs of institutional and human capacity
development for participating country/basin and thenproduce Knowledge Products and conduct TrainingsWelcome any idea and suggestion!

Toshihiro Sonoda
Senior Disaster Risk Management Specialist
Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery
World Bank
Email: tsonoda@worldbank.org