What does it take to mainstream disaster risk management in key sectors?

The guide argues that mainstreaming disaster risk management (DRM) is essential to prevent development policies from increasing vulnerability to climate-related disasters. It identifies six core requirements for effective mainstreaming: a supportive policy environment, leadership, risk knowledge, context-appropriate management techniques, consistent financing, and innovation. The document provides a framework for governments focusing on four areas: reforming institutional practices to reduce compartmentalisation, enhancing risk understanding through inclusive and non-data-intensive methods, managing the political nature of mainstreaming, and building vertical and private-sector partnerships.

• Effective mainstreaming of disaster risk management requires six foundational elements: leadership, a supportive policy environment, knowledge of relevant risks, consistent financing, innovation, and risk management techniques tailored to the specific context.
• To improve institutional practices, governments should reduce compartmentalisation via small-scale strategic coordination, include mainstreaming in the responsibilities of key officials, provide training for ministry planning staff, and establish incentives for action.
• Enhancing risk understanding requires open policy planning involving diverse stakeholders, mandated risk evaluations (potentially via legislation), the use of non-data intensive evaluation methods, and the sharing of risk assessment tools.
• Because mainstreaming is a highly political process, governments should give beneficiaries a voice, map political risks, and build momentum by analyzing the costs and benefits of these processes.
• Effective partnerships for risk management should include vertical collaborations between different levels of government, the creation of business opportunities for the private sector, and increased interaction between sectoral staff and DRM experts.

APA

Kirbyshire, A., Bahadur, A., Khan, D., & Bhatt, M. (2014). What does it take to mainstream disaster risk management in key sectors? Climate and Development Knowledge Network. https://cdkn.org/resource/what-does-it-take-to-mainstream-disaster-risk-management-in-key-sectors

Chicago

Kirbyshire, Amy, Aditya Bahadur, Dina Khan, and Mihir Bhatt. What does it take to mainstream disaster risk management in key sectors? Climate and Development Knowledge Network, 2014. https://cdkn.org/resource/what-does-it-take-to-mainstream-disaster-risk-management-in-key-sectors.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Kirbyshire |first1=Amy |last2=Bahadur |first2=Aditya |last3=Khan |first3=Dina |last4=Bhatt |first4=Mihir |title=What does it take to mainstream disaster risk management in key sectors? |publisher=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |date=3 April 2014 |url=https://cdkn.org/resource/what-does-it-take-to-mainstream-disaster-risk-management-in-key-sectors |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{kirbyshire2014what, author = {Kirbyshire, Amy and Bahadur, Aditya and Khan, Dina and Bhatt, Mihir}, title = {{What does it take to mainstream disaster risk management in key sectors?}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, year = {2014}, month = apr, url = {https://cdkn.org/resource/what-does-it-take-to-mainstream-disaster-risk-management-in-key-sectors}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }