The Pacific i sland countries (PICs) are some of the most exposed to frequent natural disasters and climate shocks, and their vulnerability is increasing due to mounting effects of climate change as well as demographic and economic forces. Natural disasters hit the poorest hardest and have long -term consequences for human development. Social protection programs and systems have an important role in helping poor and vulnerable populations cope with the impacts of shocks as well as build long -term resilience. This paper discusses the potential role of social protection for disaster and climate risk reduction and management in PICs . It presents evidence and lessons from other regions, providing examples of tools and entry points for the develo pment of climate – and disaster- respons ive social protection interventions and context-specific recommendations for PICs.
This paper discusses the potential role of social protection for disaster and climate risk reduction and management in the PICs and intends to serve as a primer for World Bank engagement in social protection in the region. The study presents evidence and lessons from other countries and regions with the goal of providing examples of tools and entry points for the development of climate – and disaster – responsive social protection interventions.
However, given the Pacific region specific context and the characteristics of each country’s social protection (SP), climate change adaptation (CCA) and disaster risk management (DRM) sector, it is important to keep in mind that some of these lessons will need to be extrapolated to other settings with due caution.