National Systems and Institutional Mechanisms for the Comprehensive Management of Disaster Risk: Phase 1

The Regional Policy Dialogue has commissioned a two-stage research program focused at understanding national, integrated, government-directed systems. This report constitutes Phase I of this project and it is based on: a review of existing literature, three case studies completed by the authors, and consultation with experts on existing practice in Latin America on natural disaster programs. The report is focused around the following three research areas: the characteristics of existing national systems and institutional mechanisms, political sustainability of national systems, and the financial sustainability of national systems. This paper was presented at the Regional Policy Dialogue's First Meeting of the Natural Disasters Dialogue held on November 15th and 16th, 2001 in Washington, DC.