Glossary

Preparedness

The knowledge and capacities developed by governments, response and recovery organisations, communities, and individuals to effectively anticipate, respond to and recover from the impacts of likely, imminent or current crises. Preparedness can be distinguished between financial preparedness (e.g. the creation of budgetary or financial mechanisms to respond to a particular type of crisis) and delivery system preparedness (e.g. investments in enabling social protection systems to be able to scale up rapidly following a crisis) (the Centre, based on UNISDR 2016).

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This report captures and builds on learning from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) anticipatory action pilot in Nepal.

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This guidance note is intended as a common framework to support practical approaches to meaningful accountability across the sector.

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This guidance document offers practical steps on how to capture lessons from DRF initiatives.

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This brief reviews the evidence on the welfare impacts of proactive approaches to setting up finance for disaster response.

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other key terms

Contingent liabilities

Possible financial obligations that only become real if specific future events occur.

Risk retention

When governments retain and finance disaster costs themselves.

Development insurer

An insurer supporting development goals through insurance products and technical assistance.

Vulnerability

Conditions that increase how severely people or communities are affected by hazards.

Ex ante

Actions, decisions or financial arrangements made before a disaster or crisis occurs.

Risk layering

Using different financial instruments for different disaster frequencies.