Ex-ante and ex-post financial considerations for local government risk management capacity

Material Information

Title:
Ex-ante and ex-post financial considerations for local government risk management capacity
Series Title:
Comprehensive risk management by communities and local governments
Creator:
Vatsa, Krishna S.
Rodríguez, Marco Antonio
Ameller Terrazas, Vladimir
Maldonado, Alberto
Weichselgartner, Juergen Weichselgartner
Mechler, Reinhard
Disaster Risk Reduction Program, Florida International University (DRR/FIU)
Place of Publication:
Washington, DC
Publisher:
Inter-American Development Bank
Publication Date:
Copyright Date:
2003
Language:
English

Subjects

Subjects / Keywords:
Risk management. ( lcshac )
Natural hazards and disasters -- Economic assistance. ( lcsh )
Genre:
non-fiction ( marcgt )
Spatial Coverage:
South America -- Bolivia
South America -- Colombia
Europe -- Germany

Notes

Summary:
This document is a comparative study of the devolution of disaster risk management (DRM) responsibilities to local governments in three countries (Bolivia, Colombia, and Germany) as a component of broader decentralization and democratization efforts. It particularly focuses on the financing and fiscal aspects of DRM at the municipal level. As the frequency and magnitude of disasters steadily increases throughout Latin America, along with the economic costs of their impacts, responsibility for DRM has gradually become the purview of governments often with the least resources to respond, municipalities. This document looks at how fiscal and financial arrangements can be set up to reduce risks and maximize the advantages that concentrating DRM efforts at the local level presents. Since local governments already bear the primary responsibility of providing emergency services to their citizens, disaster preparedness is best done at the community level. Also, because disaster impacts are typically concentrated locally, community-based mitigation is the most effective and efficient means of reducing risks. And lastly, as national social security systems are generally underdeveloped regionally, strengthening local social safety nets is likely to have direct impacts on reducing vulnerability and strengthening resilience. The document is divided into five sections. The first is an outline of the various components of the study. In the second, the process of decentralization in Bolivia and Colombia and its effects on DRM are addressed. The third section looks at how DRM is financed in these two nations. The fourth focuses more directly on DRM financing at the level of local government. Analysis of these processes in Germany provides a developed country perspective. The final section presents concluding remarks and recommendations. The document promotes a comprehensive approach to DRM, including both ex-ante and ex-post measures. It calls for establishment of conditional or matching transfer mechanisms based on local government willingness to invest in preparedness and risk mitigation; provision of regulatory and financial support for community-based mitigation programs where local governments, community networks, and local financial institutions are central actors in planning and implementation; partnership with financial institutions to develop economic incentives for DRM at the household and community levels; and development of social safety nets at the local level to help communities recover after disasters occur. ( English )
Subject:
General Risk Management ( English )
Subject:
Politics ( English )
Scope and Content:
Executive Summary p. 6; 1 Introduction and Background p. 10; 1.1 Objective and Structure of the Study p. 11; 1.2 The Diverse Context of Local Governments p. 12; 1.3 Rationale for the Study p. 13; 1.4 A Feasible Risk Management Approach at the Local Level p. 16; 2 Decentralizing the State: Its Scope and Swe ep in Colombia, Bolivia, and Germany p. 20; 2.1 Political Decentralization in Colombia, Bolivia and Germany p. 21; 2.2 Fiscal Decentralization p. 22; 2.3 Growing Ambit of Decentralization p. 25; 3 Fiscal and Financial Arrangements for Disaster Risk Management: Evidence from Colombia, Bolivia and Germany p. 26; 3.1 National System of Disaster Risk Management p. 27; 3.2 Financing for Disaster Risks at National Levels p. 28; 3.3 National Reserve / Calamity Funds p. 29; 3.4 Allocations for Disaster Risk Management at Local level p. 30; 3.5 Insurance Payment at Local Levels p. 35; 3.6 International Assistance for Reconstruction p. 36; 4 Financial Services and Instruments for Disaster Risk Management p. 38; 4.1 Disaster Risk Management as an Emerging Municipal Responsibility p. 39; 4.2 Financing Strategy for Disaster Risks at the Local Level p. 41; 4.3 Financing Reconstruction p. 43; 4.4 Setting up Calamity Funds p. 45; 4.5 Supporting Safety Nets p. 46; 4.6 Insurance p. 49; 4.7 Microfinance p. 51; 5 Conclusions and Recommendations p. 52; 5.1 Financial Strategy for Local- level Mitigation Investment p. 53; 5.2 Financial Instruments and Services for Disaster Risk Management p. 55; 6 References p. 58; Appendix p. 62 ( English )
Citation/Reference:
Vatsa, K.S., Rodríguez, M.A., Terrazas, V.A., Maldonado, A., Weichselgartner, J., Mechler, R. (2003). Ex-ante and ex-post financial considerations for local government risk management capacity. Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit/German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ), and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
General Note:
Inter-American Development Bank, Regional Policy Dialogue, Natural Disasters Network, III Meeting
General Note:
Versión preliminar [preliminary version]

Record Information

Source Institution:
Florida International University
Rights Management:
Refer to main document/publisher for use rights.
Resource Identifier:
FI13022719

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Aggregations:
Disaster Risk Reduction