Climate and Disaster Risk Financing – Regional Training

While most of the globe is vulnerable to climate change and its associated hazards and risks, the African continent is disproportionally more at risk than most. It is estimated that temperatures in the parts of the continent region are rising faster than the global average, causing extreme temperatures, fluctuating rainfall patterns, more frequent and prolonged droughts, increasingly powerful cyclonic activity, as well as the threat of increasing sea level rise affecting coastal communities and ecosystems. All these hazards pose increasing risks to agricultural lands, urban communities, critical infrastructure, essential services, and networks, degrading land, impacting grazing patterns, and significantly reducing water supply for both animals, ecosystems and people, and their livelihoods, which in turn may jeopardize food security and stability across the region threatening to undo many of the development gains and hard-won progress achieved.

As Africa becomes increasingly threatened by climate-based hazards and disasters of increasing magnitude and frequency, it is critical that governing institutions and agencies from local to national, regional, and continental levels implement actionable, comprehensive, transparent, and inter-ministerial strategies that incorporate the paradigms of disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. For these plans to be implementable and cost-effective in reducing risk and vulnerability in their states, governments must incorporate the principles of Climate and Disaster Risk Financing (CDRF) as an integral component of their development and risk management planning.

Designed together with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), PERI PERI U offered a series of virtual training short courses for government officials from across the continent, focused on Climate and Disaster Risk Financing, with teaching collaboration from Stellenbosch University, University of Antananarivo, as well as industry experts, using a variety of teaching materials such as virtual classrooms, self-paced study, and group work discussions. These short courses aimed to advance the awareness, knowledge, and capacity of African decision-makers and policy influencers on principles, methods, and tools of Climate and Disaster Risk Financing which they would apply to develop and coordinate risk-informed climate adaptation and risk mitigation strategies within their own countries.

The CDRF courses were designed and implemented as a concentrated four-day virtual training bloc, with each day of training being approximately 4 hours in length. This training bloc was repeated three times, with each bloc focusing on a specific on a particular region and or language group. The table below illustrates the different regional foci of each training as well as the main languages the training was conducted in.

Training	Regional Focus	Main Language	Dates
CDRF Training 1	Anglophone North and West Africa (Eastern Africa added)	English	26 -29 Sept
CDRF Training 2	Francophone North, West and Central Africa	French	10 -13 Oct
CDRF Training 3	Southern Africa	English/ Portuguese	24 – 27 Oct

ANGLOPHONEEASTERN, NORTH, and WEST AFRICA –

DAY 1 TRAINING:

Day 1:
Evolving Disaster and Climate Risk Context of Africa and Group-Specific Region : Download File
This session aimed at providing an understanding of the evolving context of the impact of climate change, disasters, and other shocks in Africa, creating awareness of the multiple and interlinked risks African countries face, from economic growth, the climate crisis / global warming, conflict, epidemics, economic, terrorism, migration, and refugees and introduce Key lessons for financial resilience within the broader sustainable development agenda.

Day 1:
Key lessons for understanding the development impact of CDRF in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals : Download File
The session aimed at establishing a shared understanding of the development impact of CDRF in Africa, examining the key lessons around the development goals and how these are affected by disasters and climate change.

Day 1:
Introduction of Public Financial Management (PFM) principles : Download File
The session aimed to provide a basic understanding of Public Financial Management (PFM) principles to illustrate the challenges of PFM in different African contexts including specifically PFM challenges in post-disaster contexts, and to understand the Impact of the political economy in decision-making processes drawing on lessons from Africa in managing/planning and outcomes for disaster response, risk reduction, climate change adaptation and mitigation.

DAY 2 TRAINING:

Day 2:
Introduction to Financial Risk Management of Crises : Download File
The session aimed at introducing the concepts of financial risk management of crises, when to implement a Climate and Disaster Risk Financing policy, and identifying and mapping internal and external stakeholders to work with.

Day 2:
Overview of the Opportunities and Challenges of different types of data used in CDRF: Download File
The session provided an overview of the various types of data used in CDRF, the different levels of need, and the various opportunities and challenges these types of data provide to stakeholders. Participants were also introduced to Satellite technologies and data.

Day 2: Overview of core CDRF principles and instruments

The session provided an overview of the core principles vital to Climate and Disaster Risk Financing, including;

i) Timeliness of funding

ii) Funding Beneficiaries

iii) Disaster risk Layering

iv) Data and Analytics

DAY 3 TRAINING:

Day 3:
Introduction to Key Financial Instruments: Download File

The session introduced participants to various financial instruments available on the continent which include:

• Risk transfer: Sovereign risk transfer as a financing instrument

• Contingent lines of credit

• Public asset insurance and asset inventory

• Contingency fund

• Budget reallocation

Day 3:
Making Informed CDRF Decisions – Data, Financial Tools & Instruments: Practical Exercises with Models: Download File
The session demonstrated the real-world benefits of data and analytics in developing CDRF instruments in different contexts and provided insights on how to navigate data challenges for decision-making, how CDRF models are built as well as their inputs and outputs, and Explore how data can be utilized in the creation of national CDRF strategies

DAY 4 TRAINING

Day 4:
Managing CDRF Stakeholders and Communicating CDRF Strategy: Download File

The session enabled participants to:

• Gain an overview of sources of funding, capacities required to channel funding, and proposal development within the context of facilitation between a variety of CDRF stakeholders
• Understand key internal and external stakeholders to influence decision-making in a developing CDRF environment.
• View stakeholders as part of the wider decision-making system, identifying and mapping categories of stakeholders.
• Build a powerful story to communicate the value of CDRF to their key stakeholders.

Day 4:
Mobilizing Climate and Disaster Risk Finance: Download File
The session introduced participants to international flows for Financing Climate Change Action and Disaster Risk Reduction initiatives in the Sahel region, as well as what preparatory work and structural adjustments need to be accomplished before such findings can be provided and effectively implemented.
Day 4:
Readiness of Countries to Effectively and Efficiently Utilize such Funding: Download File
The session provided an overview of how to efficiently apply and utilize climate and disaster risk funding mechanisms – reflecting on the various themes and issues raised during the course.

SHORT COURSE ASSIGNMENT – Download File

FRANCOPHONE NORTH, WEST, AND CENTRAL AFRICA(french)

CDRF Jour1: Session 1 et 2:

• Day 1: Contexte évolutif des risques de catastrophes et du climat en Afrique et dans les régions spécifiques aux groups

• Principaux enseignements pour comprendre l’impact du CDRF sur le développement en vue de la réalisation des objectifs de développement durable
• Introduction aux principes de la gestion des finances publiques (GFP)

2e jour de formation :

• Day 2: Introduction à la gestion du risque financier des crises
• Vue d’ensemble des opportunités et des défis des différents types de données utilisées dans le CDRF
• Aperçu des principes et instruments fondamentaux du CDRF

3ème jour de formation :

• Day 3: Introduction aux principaux instruments financiers
• Making Informed CDRF Decisions – Data, Financial Tools & Instruments: Practical Exercises with Models
• Prendre des décisions éclairées en matière de CDRF – Données, outils et instruments financiers: Exercices pratiques avec des modèles

Formation du 4ème jour :

• Day 4: Managing CDRF Stakeholders and Communicating CDRF Strategy
• Mobiliser le financement des risques liés au climat et aux catastrophes
• La préparation des pays à l’utilisation efficace et efficiente de ces financements