Asian Development Bank announced a new financing partnership facility in Samarkand, developed with the Government of Japan as its initial partner, to help developing member countries strengthen disaster resilience and regional cooperation. The initiative, called the Pre-Arranged Resources for Enhancing Preparedness and Resilience (PREPARE), marks ADB’s first facility dedicated specifically to disaster risk finance and is designed as a flexible platform that can support countries with varying risk profiles and institutional capacities.
The PREPARE facility includes a Pacific-focused trust fund, P-PREPARE, which has received an initial $2.9 million contribution from Japan. Administered by ADB, the fund aims to help Pacific countries improve financial preparedness for disasters by ensuring timely and sustainable funding for response and recovery. It also seeks to enhance regional cooperation through shared systems that support resilience, economic growth, and security.
P-PREPARE will support capacity-building efforts in areas such as data analytics, disaster risk financing strategies, and the development of innovative financial instruments. It will also work to improve the affordability and alignment of disaster risk finance tools across the region. In addition, the fund will provide targeted assistance to the Pacific Catastrophe Risk Insurance Company, helping strengthen its ability to deliver rapid insurance payouts to countries affected by disasters.
The need for such support is particularly acute in the Pacific, where countries face high exposure to climate-related risks and natural hazards, combined with limited fiscal capacity. For example, a 7.3 magnitude earthquake in Vanuatu in 2024 left more than 80,000 people in urgent need and caused an estimated $197 million in damage, underscoring the scale of vulnerability in the region.
ADB has already been supporting disaster risk finance in Pacific countries through a mix of loans, grants, technical assistance, and mechanisms such as contingent disaster financing and regional response funds. With the launch of PREPARE, the bank aims to strengthen these efforts by providing a more coordinated and scalable approach to disaster preparedness and resilience financing across Asia and the Pacific.
