contingency plans that can be implemented during a pandemic. Once a pandemic is underway, financial resources must be readily available to help contain the outbreak. The international community has an important role to play in supporting vulnerable countries before and during a pandemic. To this end, the World Bank has established a Pandemic Emergency Facility, which functions as a global insurance mechanism for pandemics, providing expedited disbursements to countries during a crisis along with investments to avoid a crisis in the first place.

_Natural disasters_ and extreme weather events also threaten the economic prosperity of countries and their ability to end extreme poverty. As with pandemics, natural disasters pose the greatest threat to developing countries, especially those that are least prepared for the shock. In fact, three out of four deaths associated with natural disasters take place in developing countries and small island states. The economic consequences of natural disasters are severe and range from $10 billion to $15 billion in low‐income and middle‐income countries. Climate change adds an extra layer of complexity to the challenge of managing and responding to natural disasters. Rising temperatures are expected to increase both the severity and the frequency of extreme weather events, elevate the risk of floods near the coasts, and exacerbate the threat of droughts in the tropics. Developing countries will once again bear the brunt of the costs associated with climate change. In Sub‐Saharan Africa, even a 2‐degree temperature rise is foreseen to generate a permanent reduction of almost 5 percent in annual GDP per capita.

These risks are, unfortunately, not entirely avoidable. As such, countries that are most exposed to the risks of extreme weather events must take action to enhance their preparedness and ability to respond during a time of crisis. This includes developing early warning and climate monitoring systems to identify threats early. Public officials must also have response plans in place to implement if a crisis occurs. Countries that are most vulnerable will also need to consider climate risks in their urban planning. Cities, such as Tunis, are preparing against the risk of floods by improving drainage, building seawalls, and relocating new infrastructure developments away from high‐risk areas. Countries that are reliant on agriculture and are at high risk of droughts, such as in Sub‐ Saharan Africa, will need to adapt by investing in drought‐resistant crops, irrigation systems, and effective markets that facilitate the adoption of new technologies. Moving away from a rainfall‐dependent agricultural economy will help these countries reduce their exposure to risk. Finally, governments must have access to funds that can be immediately deployed for reconstruction and as safety nets if a disaster strikes. Here, international cooperation is imperative. To assist in this effort, the World Bank has worked with donors and the private sector to develop a Disaster Risk Financing and Insurance (DRFI) facility to quickly fund emergency responses.

**Information systems.** A prerequisite to helping the destitute and vulnerable through insurance is the availability of information systems. These systems take different forms and play different roles depending on a country’s situation. The provision of social assistance requires policy makers to gain a good understanding of poverty in order to identify the poor and the geographic areas where an intervention would help most. This requires periodic data collection through household surveys. In addition, panel surveys are especially helpful for identifying the chronic poor. By shedding light on poverty dynamics and identifying vulnerable, yet non‐poor, populations, they also help design social insurance systems that complement the growth and investment components of the three‐point strategy.  Some forms of social insurance require specialized forms of data. For weather index‐based insurance, for example, historical and disaggregated data on rainfall patterns is crucial for a functional insurance scheme. Last, information systems are crucial for monitoring the risks of pandemics and natural disasters. Climate models and satellite technology can be valuable tools for mapping high‐risk areas.

44