Dominican Republic Emergency Recovery & Disaster Management
The Project development objectives are to: (i) restore and strengthen priority, irrigation, electricity, water, and sanitation infrastructure damaged by tropical storms Olga and Noel or at risk of damage from future storms, and (ii) strengthen the National Institute of Hydraulics’ (INDRHI’s) and the Dominican Corporation of State Electrical Companies’ (CDEEE's) capacity for future risk management. Commitment Amount: US$ 20.00 million.

Activities:
This Project is designed to provide additional financing in order to complete original project activities in response to the Noel/Olga disaster by (i) restoring and rehabilitating water resources, electricity, water, and sanitation infrastructure damaged by the storms, or at risk of damage from future storms, and, (ii) reducing vulnerability to future disasters INDRHI and the CDEEE. Activities include: - The rehabilitation of the Borrower’s principal water management systems damaged by tropical storms Noel and Olga and strengthening of the borrower’s institutional capacity for risk management. - The reconstruction and rehabilitation of: (i) damaged water control structures, including the rehabilitation of water diversion and conveyance structures; (ii) canal systems; and (iii) water distribution, control, and drainage structures; the restoration of ancillary dam infrastructure, including access roads and monitoring equipment. - The carrying out of works to repair the dams of Maguaca, Villarpando, Dique de Barracote, Tavera, Jiguey, Aguacate, Hatillo, Rincon, Sabana Yegua, Mijo, Sabaneta, Rio Blanco, Arroyon, and Tireito and the removal of flood debris the repair and replacement of damaged flood control structures.

http://www.worldbank.org/projects/P126840/af-emergency-recovery-disaster-management?lang=en&tab=overview

Beneficiaries: 600,000 Poor Households in the Dominican Republic

Partners and financing: Government of the Dominican Republic

Modernization of the National Meteorological Service for Improved Climate Adaptation (MOMET)
The objective of the Modernizing the National Meteorological Service to Address Variability and Climate Change in the Water Sector in Mexico (MOMET) Project is to strengthen the human resources, institutional, and infrastructure capacity of the National Meteorological Service (SMN) to meet the increasing demand for timely and accurate weather and climate information for the purposes of water resources and disaster risk management in the face of climate change and climate variability.

Activities:
The project has four components: (1) Strengthening institutional capacity and client communications through institutional redesign, human resource recruitment and training, and improved communications with clients. (2) Modernizing observation infrastructure to support the redesign of SMN's observation networks, the installation of modernized infrastructure, and the procurement and use of updated data processing technologies. (3) Improving meteorological forecasts by financing the development and upgrading of SMN’s data assimilation systems and professional capacity in the use of the latest meteorological, climate modeling and forecasting tools. (4) Development of climate regional capacity supporting the strengthening of regional capacity to maintain the surrounding observation networks and carry out specialized monitoring and forecasting functions responding to the particular hydrometeorological characteristics and needs of their respective regions and basin organizations.

http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2012/05/17/Mexico-modernization-national-meteorological-service-for-improved-climate-change-adaptation

Beneficiaries: Vulnerable populations in Mexico

Partners and financing: Government of Mexico

Rebuilding Energy Infrastructure and Access, Haiti
The objectives of the Rebuilding Energy Infrastructure and Access Project for Haiti are to (a) strengthen the recipient's energy policy and planning capacity; (b) improve the sustainability and resilience of the recipient’s electricity sector and restore and expand access to reliable electricity services; and (c) provide financial assistance in case of an energy sector emergency. The project has three components: (1) Strengthening energy sector institutions and improving energy access. (2) Enhancing Electricite d'Haiti (EDH's) performance and rehabilitating and expanding infrastructure. (3) Energy sector risk and emergency response contingent reserve component will provide support upon occurrence of an energy sector emergency through: (a) the carrying out of emergency recovery and rehabilitation activities; and/or (b) technical assistance to support Ministry of Public Works, Transport, Energy and Communication (MTPTEC) and EDH in its response to an energy sector emergency. Commitment Amount: US$ 90.00 million.

Activities:
Component 1- Strengthening of energy policy, planning and implementation capacity of the MTPTEC: This includes: development of a renewable energy framework and preparation of implementing regulations, presentation of an updated electricity law to Parliament, preparation of an energy sector master plan and the improvement in monitoring and transparency of financial flows in the sector. This component increases capacity and improve governance in the sector through capacity building support to the main sector players: the Government, EDH, and consumers. It finances the provision of technical assistance (through consulting services, and training) and the purchase of office equipment and related expenses to support to the implementation capacity of both the Government and EDH. The activities contributes to a broader energy sector Governance Enhancement Program discussed and agreed with the Authorities. - Component 2 - Increase in the number of rehabilitated and new connections to electricity in Port au Prince: This component improves the electricity service quality in Port au Prince. - Component 3 - Increase in the number of new connections to electricity in rural areas of Haiti: This component increases the connections to electricity outside of Port au Prince and provide access to more efficient and healthier cooking appliances throughout Haiti through enhancing grid-based access for electricity services in secondary urban and rural areas.

http://www.worldbank.org/projects/P120895/infrastructure-institutions-emergency-recovery?http://www.worldbank.org/projects/P127203/rebuilding-energy-infrastructure-access?lang=en&tab=overview

Beneficiaries: Improves access to electricity for 600,000 Haitians

Partners and financing: Government of Haiti

Regional Disaster Vulnerability Reduction - Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines
The Regional Disaster Vulnerability Reduction Project aims at measurably reducing vulnerability to natural hazards and climate change impacts in the Eastern Caribbean sub-region. The restructuring is aligned with the current Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Regional partnership strategy 2010-14 and its strategic objectives of building resilience, enhancing competitiveness and stimulating sustained growth.

Activities:
This sub-regional project supports regional agencies and interested government agencies in 6 island states (Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent) to develop capacity and tools to assess and communicate disaster risk to the general public and to the decision makers in different sectors. Furthermore the project finances investments in disaster vulnerability reduction of public infrastructure and private housing. Climate change models and scenarios are used to inform risk assessments and assist with the development of improved engineering designs and cost benefit analyses of development activities. The project helps strengthen existing project implementing units, enabling them to execute substantial investments in climate resilience The sub-regional project, is a two-tier engagement, which builds on ongoing sub-regional collaboration and result in national investments targeted at risk reduction. Tier 1: Sub-regional Collaboration: At a sub-regional level, the engagement builds on the ongoing collaboration among OECS countries (and in particular, the sub-regional states) with respect to climate monitoring, hazard identification and monitoring, institutional strengthening and capacity building. Activities include (i) data collection and establishment of data sharing protocols, (ii) capacity building for generating and interpreting risk assessments, (iii) development and sharing of risk assessment application for policy purposes, and (iv) critical infrastructure risk identifications. Tier 2: National Investments: The second tier provide investments for national level infrastructure projects identified through risk assessments, which integrate climate change models and scenarios with existing hazard and vulnerability data.

http://www.worldbank.org/projects/P120895/infrastructure-institutions-emergency-recovery?http://http://www.worldbank.org/projects/P120895/infrastructure-institutions-emergency-recovery?lang=en&tab=overview

Beneficiaries: Improves access to electricity for 600,000 Haitians

Partners and financing: Government of Haiti

Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF)
TThe objective of this initiative is to enable Caribbean countries access to affordable and high quality catastrophic risk insurance by transferring risk to international reinsurance markets via the CCRIF and facilitating the uptake of the new excess rainfall product for Caribbean and Central American states. Countries enjoy access to fast-disbursing liquidity for relief and recovery efforts in the aftermaths of disasters generated by natural events, which enhances fiscal resilience and help reduce the long-term economic losses from these events.

Activities:
CCRIF is the world’s first multi-country catastrophe risk pooling mechanism. Registered as an insurance company, CCRIF is also the first facility to develop and successfully offer its members parametric insurance against tropical cyclones and earthquakes. Backed by both traditional reinsurance and capital markets, CCRIF functions as a joint reserve mechanism and enhances its members’ financial resilience to natural disasters by providing a policy payout (in cash; in 14 days or less) in the event of a tropical cyclone or earthquake of sufficient financial impact to reach pre-agreed financial trigger levels. CCRIF membership provides parametric insurance coverage, where payouts to countries are based on the modeled loss to a government from an event for which the characteristics are independently and objectively measured. The estimated government financial loss is derived from a catastrophe risk model developed specifically for each country and operated by CCRIF. Since 2007, CCRIF has made eight payouts to its current members, and these have proven useful to manage budget volatility in the immediate aftermath of a disaster.

http://www.worldbank.org/projects/P108058/caribbean-catastrophe-risk-insurance-facility?lang=en

Beneficiaries: Primary beneficiaries of CCRIF are the 16 member governments

Partners and financing: Governments of Caribbean Nations, Global Facility for Disaster Risk Reduction and Recovery, CCRIF donors (Government of Canada etc)

In 2010 and 2011, the World Bank Group assisted Haiti in key reconstruction activities in the aftermath of the massive earthquake that destroyed large parts of Haiti's capital and killed 230,000 people. Among other initiatives, the Bank supported safety inspections on 400,000 homes, provided grant financing for repair and reconstruction, helped stabilize government operations, addressed the cholera epidemic and helped thousands of children get back to school. To date the World Bank Group has provided US$479 million in grants and other financing to Haiti, including private sector support by the IFC to the tune of US$49.6 million. A special IDA allocation for Haiti was approved during the World Bank Spring Meeting in 2011.

In addition, the World Bank has supported a series of other countries in the region affected by natural disasters, including Chile after the February 2010 earthquake, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines after Hurricane Tomas in October 2010, and Brazil after the January 2011 mudslides in Rio de Janeiro state that killed over 800 people and left thousands homeless. The Bank’s support has ranged from damage assessment to the rehabilitation of key infrastructure and capacity building to help better manage disaster risks and improve planning and territorial growth.