Egypt Advances Disaster Risk Financing Strategies

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Egypt is taking important steps to strengthen its financial resilience to disasters and climate-related risks through the development of a national disaster risk financing strategy.

Government institutions, United Nations agencies, and national stakeholders gathered in Cairo for a national workshop jointly organized by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in coordination with the National Committee for Crisis Management and Disaster Risk Reduction affiliate to the Prime Minister’s Office.

The workshop marked an important milestone in supporting Egypt’s efforts to strengthen risk-informed public financing, enhance preparedness and recovery policies, and reduce the growing impacts of disasters and climate-related shocks on communities, infrastructure, and the national economy.

Strengthening risk-informed financing approaches

The workshop brought together representatives from national and government institutions to discuss the foundations of a comprehensive national approach to disaster risk financing and resilience planning.

Discussions focused on the key determinants and overall structure for developing the national strategy, including frameworks and approaches for disaster risk financing, and the classification of disasters and risks. In the workshop, international experiences and good practices related to preparedness financing and response were discussed.

Opening the workshop, Raidan Alsaqqaf, Deputy Regional Director of the Regional Office for Arab States at UNDRR, highlighted the increasing impacts of disasters on public finances, livelihoods, infrastructure, and essential services across the region. He emphasized:

“Countries that have clear and pre-arranged financing mechanisms are better able to protect the most vulnerable groups, maintain essential services, accelerate recovery, and reduce long-term losses.”

Additionally, in his opening remarks, Ghimar Deeb, Deputy Resident Representative of the UNDP Country Office in Egypt accentuated that “No single financial instrument can efficiently address all risks. Effective disaster risk financing protects people, livelihoods, public finances, and critical infrastructure. Therefore, the development of a Disaster Risk Financing Strategy aims to provide the Government of Egypt with a structured framework of financing instruments to respond more effectively to disaster-related losses.”

Building partnerships for resilience

The workshop further strengthened collaboration between government institutions and UN agencies working to advance resilience and sustainable development in Egypt. It also provided an opportunity to identify the next steps for the development of the national disaster risk financing strategy,  stakeholder engagement, institutional coordination, and implementation framework.

The initiative reflects the growing partnership between UNDRR and UNDP in supporting governments across the Arab region to strengthen risk-informed development, disaster resilience, and financing approaches that link climate adaptation, preparedness, and sustainable development priorities. Strengthening disaster risk financing is also critical to protecting development gains, sustaining economic resilience, and ensuring continuity of essential services during crises.

As climate and disaster risks continue to affect economies and communities across the Arab region, strengthening disaster risk financing is becoming increasingly important to support prevention, preparedness, resilient recovery, and long-term development planning.