We are pleased to present Building Resilient Cities: An Assessment of Disaster Risk Management Policies in Southeast Asia, a study conducted by the OECD with the support of the Global Initiative on Disaster Risk Management (GIDRM), a project commissioned by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) to the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. This study presents a framework for national and subnational governments to assess disaster risk management policies for enhancing resilience in cities exposed to a variety of natural hazards, posing significant threats to the well-being and livelihood of citizens. Many of the disaster risk management (DRM) examples from Southeast Asia analysed in this report are also applicable to other regions of the world.
For the German Development Cooperation, the case studies show the challenges at and the importance of the local level in DRM. Linking levels and combining efforts of different sectors are essential to strengthen resilience and create conditions for sustainable development. GIDRM continues to support actors in this respect in order to achieve coherence with regard to planning, implementing and reporting disaster risk management in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Paris Agreement and other international agendas, such as the 2030 Agenda and Habitat III.
The policy recommendations provided in this study surely will help governments and other stakeholders in their ambition to enhance resilience – the shared goal of the global agendas mentioned.
For the OECD, this study is another illustration of the critical importance of a multi-level and multi-stakeholder approach to disaster risk management in order to advance the OECD Green Growth Strategy. This evidence-based assessment of policy challenges and opportunities in Southeast Asia highlights the role of urban policies in supporting economic growth that does not increase environmental stress. To this end, the study has placed a particular focus on identifying policy synergies and complementarities between disaster risk management and urban green growth policies.
We are confident that this study will contribute to a whole-of-government, proactive and inclusive approach to disaster risk management to enhance urban resilience in cities of all size.
Lamia Kamal-Chaoui,
Director of the Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities, OECD
Dr. Thomas Helfen,
Head of Division Peace and Security; Disaster Risk Management; BMZ