. Enhancing Availability, Quality, and Use of Risk Information for Critical Infrastructure to Reduce Disaster Risk, Increase Resilience and Strengthen Early Warning Systems

SIDS face significant challenges in data collection, analysis, and technical capacity, which hinder evidence-based policymaking, progress monitoring, and access to development financing.  

Kiribati faces significant coastal erosion severely threatening the island's infrastructure, impacting roads, buildings, and essential services near the coastline.   

Maldives is heavily reliant on tourism, which accounts for almost one-third of the economy. The roadmap for Early Warning for All (EW4All) initiative in Maldives has identified the absence of a risk index of critical infrastructure and secondary risks associated with major populations as a critical gap. It also highlights the lack of analysis of potential impacts and stress-testing of critical infrastructure and the absence of analysis of cascading risks to critical infrastructure and secondary impacts to the socio-economic system. 

With only 20% of roads paved as of 2021, Timor-Leste also deals with inadequate energy, water systems, and unreliable telecommunications. Historical disaster losses and damages data is crucial for resource allocation for resilient infrastructure, yet gaps persist. Efforts like the Timor-Leste Emergency Response System aim to improve this, but data availability remains challenging, especially concerning direct economic losses from critical sectors. The April 2021 Cyclone Seroja highlighted the country’s vulnerability, causing $307.7 million in losses and extensive damage including on key infrastructures (PDNA, 2021). The PDNA emphasized the need for resilient infrastructure, but lack of comprehensive data complicates reconstruction budgeting and risk-informed future investment. 

The project aims to enhance the availability, accessibility, quality, and use of disaster risk information and strengthen early warning systems for critical infrastructure to reduce disaster risk, reduce downtime and increase resilience in Kiribati, Maldives and Timor-Leste.  

Key activities include assessing the capacities, gaps and needs in tracking disaster losses and damages in Kiribati, Maldives and Timor-Leste with a focus on critical infrastructure, services, early warning systems and disaggregated data; and building the capacity of governments and stakeholders to collect, track, share and use disaster risk data and information for decision-making, with a focus on infrastructure, services and early warning systems, and ensuring inclusion of women and girls, persons with disabilities and other groups at risk.