By Irene Gaitirira
Published August 2, 2019
A disaster risk finance portal to assist countries in securing funds for emergencies is about to be launched.
Patricia Scotland, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, says the web-based platform that is ‘designed to make it easier for capacity-constrained governments to gain access to the funding they so urgently need, will be ready for preview in October 2019.
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Besides helping governments to find what disaster finance instruments are available, Scotland says, ‘the portal will assist them with identifying those that are most suited to their particular needs and circumstances.
“A one-stop-shop, with information collated from a range of sources and clearly presented, will save governments time and effort, and help them to make more informed decisions on disaster preparedness and response,” Scotland says.
She argues that disasters often push many countries into taking on emergency loans to rebuild and recover, something that may lead to public debt becoming unsustainable, and making them vulnerable to the additional high risk of debt distress.
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It is to avoid debt crisis, she contends, that the organisation of 53 member countries and 2.4 billion population launched a debt management software called Commonwealth Meridian that “builds on the successes of the Commonwealth Debt Recording and Management System (CS-DRMS) which over recent years has been used by more than 100 agencies – including the finance ministries, treasuries and central banks of 60 countries – to manage more than $2.5 trillion of public debt.”
Saying the debt management system ‘complements the work of the Commonwealth Finance Access Hub set up in 2016 to help small and vulnerable states make successful funding applications for projects that will help them adapt to climate change and mitigate its impact, Scotland says ‘the hub has helped countries gain access to $25.3 million, with a further $367.4 million in the pipeline. It does so by embedding long term specialists within ministries to provide expert advice and to build local capacity for the longer term’.
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“Tools such as these, together with many other projects and programmes and advocacy strategies, are components in a suite of support offered by the Commonwealth collectively so that all our members are better equipped and ready to cope with disasters, including those related to climate change,” says Scotland.”Our combined Commonwealth purpose is to reduce the number of people being pushed into poverty and food insecurity by recurring natural disasters, and whose opportunities to share the benefits of inclusive and sustainable progress are impaired when economic growth falters. Where the planning and wherewithal to assist people with recovery from trauma and to rebuild their lives is lacking, community cohesion and nation-building can also be severely compromised and set back. Without sustained action to mitigate risks and build resilience, hopes of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 are slender.”
