09. Enhancing National and Sub-National Capacity for Resilient Infrastructure in Maldives

The project pursues two objectives to enhance the resilience of infrastructure in the Maldives: The first one is to support island councils in acquiring the skills to decentralize infrastructure planning and maintenance processes, in a context of high hazard exposure and rapid expansion of infrastructure services across the 187 inhabited islands of the country. The project will support the creation and roll-out of an infrastructure resilience curriculum for local government authorities which will become part of the civil service training catalogue for further use. The project’s second objective is to explore risk financing mechanisms, especially a disaster insurance scheme for infrastructure assets which could allow local authorities to share the burden of infrastructure losses. The process will include the creation of an asset value database and climate modelling to advise on fair asset insurance costs. Such an insurance scheme, if implemented, could free local authorities from the burden of reconstruction costs to focus on strengthening and expanding existing infrastructure services across the country. The project is endorsed by the Maldives’ Ministry of National Planning, Housing and Infrastructure. It will be implemented by UNDP, the leading UN organization in institutional capacity building for a sustainable future.