Santiago, Mar 29 (EFE).- The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) announced Saturday a $10 million non-reimbursable financing package to help strengthen disaster resilience in Latin America and the Caribbean through a new regional program, Ready and Resilient Americas.
The initiative was launched during the IDB and IDB Invest annual meetings, which opened Wednesday in the Chilean capital with a series of seminars and, since Friday, have brought together the Boards of Governors of both institutions.
“Strengthening resilience to natural disasters is no longer optional; it’s a necessity,” IDB President Ilan Goldfajn said in a statement.
Photograph of attendees on the fourth day of the 2025 Annual Meetings of the IDB and IDB Invest Boards of Governors in Santiago. EFE/Elvis González
A Regional Approach to Disaster Preparedness
According to Ana María Ibáñez, IDB Vice President for Sectors and Knowledge, 37 countries and more than 15 organizations have already signed the program’s declaration of commitment.
“A regional approach is crucial because acting together allows us to leverage economies of scale and lower the costs of addressing natural disasters through prevention,” Ibáñez told reporters.
The Ready and Resilient Americas plan will run through 2030, structured around three key pillars:
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Improving risk information and regional capacity-building
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Creating a coordination mechanism among countries
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Developing innovative financial tools
High Risk and Heavy Costs for the Region
Ibáñez highlighted that Latin America and the Caribbean is the world’s second most vulnerable region to natural disasters. In 2024 alone, the region faced 74 major events, affecting seven million people and causing more than $10 billion in damages.
“These disasters disproportionately impact poor and vulnerable populations,” she said. “Nearly 50% of the region’s 200 million poor live in high-risk areas.”
According to IDB data, GDP growth can drop between 2 and 4 percentage points in the year a disaster strikes. Moreover, 85% of disaster-related losses between 1986 and 2015 were uninsured, underlining the urgent need for investment in resilience.
Resilience Bonds and Private Sector Engagement
Among the most promising tools supported by the IDB are “resilience bonds”, which will be piloted with two countries by 2026, expanding to more by 2030.
The IDB will assist countries in designing these instruments by establishing resilience indicators to access financial markets and attract private investment.
“It’s a way to leverage private-sector resources, tied to countries achieving resilience-building goals,” Ibáñez explained.
The initiative also seeks to engage the private sector in:
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Providing technological innovations
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Forming strategic public-private partnerships
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Co-designing financial solutions to reduce costs
Data-Driven Disaster Management
Ready and Resilient Americas also emphasizes the importance of risk data and analytical tools for government planning.
“When it comes to managing natural disasters, having data is critical—data that allows governments to prioritize investments,” said Ibáñez.
The IDB noted that the new program is designed to complement existing efforts in the region.
Founded in 1959, the IDB has applied a “proactive” approach to risk management for decades. Over the past 10 years, it has approved around $1.1 billion in disaster risk management programs and provided disaster coverage to 14 countries through contingent loans totaling $4 billion.
EFE