Humanitarian Cash & Disaster Resilience

Natural disasters and conflicts are a major – and growing – source of systemic risk. With extreme weather events set to increase in both frequency and impact, Central Banks have a major role in the mitigation and management of those risks. Yet, despite having a key role in improving the financial resilience of businesses and households against natural and other types of hazard, Central Banks are not routinely engaged in the planning or execution of disaster response and early recovery operations. Given that these phases of the disaster risk management cycle are focusing more and more on cash and market-based approaches to social protection, this suggests that Central Banks could play a more proactive role in disaster management.