Counter Crisis: If we know it’s coming, why do we wait?

Author: Center for Disaster Protection

In the first episode of Series 2, Counter Crisis returns with host Jeevan Vasagar and guests Nena Stoiljkovic and Abdihakim Ainte to explore how pre-arranged financing can help countries on the frontline of the climate crisis respond faster and more effectively to disasters. 

With climate disasters hitting harder and faster, the response often comes too late. Less than 2% of international crisis financing is arranged in advance - and an even smaller portion reaches the world’s poorest communities. But better data, growing political will and innovative approaches could change this and improve access to and implementation of pre-arranged finance.  

Episode 1 takes listeners to Somalia, the second most climate vulnerable country in the world. Abdihakim Ainte, Director of Climate and Food Security for the Government of Somalia paints a worrying picture of a country where climate shocks, droughts and floods have displaced millions and devastated livelihoods. Despite weakened coping capacities, he explains that the country’s ability to collect early warning data for disasters is improving – a reason for hope if this can be translated into early response and early finance. 

“There is now an increased momentum in terms of the degree to which the government is available to provide information [on] early warnings.”

Nena Stoiljkovic Undersecretary General for Global Relations, Humanitarian Diplomacy and Digitalization at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), agrees. She highlights the opportunity for pre-arranged finance, particularly given that “around 70% of weather-related disasters can be predicted.” She also emphasises the need to get this funding to where it’s needed most:

“I would like to say that now that we can predict pretty much every single climate disaster, we absolutely have to make sure that we have policies in place and to pull the funding that's required to respond to those forecasts. And we need to move the money to the communities that are most affected, most impacted by those disasters.” 

Nena mentions encouraging initiatives already underway – for example, that the IFRC has established a pre-arranged, multi-donor fund that can be disbursed within hours when a disaster strikes. This has already proven life-saving – in Bangladesh, early financing and planning helped evacuate 2.5 million people before Cyclone Mocha made landfall, protecting lives, homes and savings. 

Nena and Abdihakim also discuss the impact of global cuts to humanitarian aid and ask whether this could be an opportunity for countries to think and operate differently. Abdihakim asks, 

“Can this be the beginning of a serious and fundamental re-evaluation of how we perceive aid and how we continue to engage?”  

Both guests agree that the world needs to look to more efficient and sustainable options, including pre-arranged financing, and avoid, where possible, the instinct to ‘firefight’ post-disaster. 

So, what if disaster relief wasn’t just about picking up the pieces? Listen to Episode 1 now on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

Counter Crisis is produced by Tortoise Media.