The Rockefeller Foundation and USAID Announce $100 Million Global Resilience Partnership in Africa and Asia

WASHINGTON, Aug. 4, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and The Rockefeller Foundation announced today a $100 million Global Resilience Partnership that lays out a bold new vision for building resilience to chronic stresses and increasing shocks in communities across Africa and Asia.    

Announced at the first-ever U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, the Resilience Partnership will institute a new model for solving the complex and interrelated challenges of the 21st century such as persistent and often extreme poverty, food insecurity, and climate shocks.  By better aligning humanitarian and development planning, connecting the private sector with civil society and government, and crowdsourcing innovations and solutions, the Resilience Partnership will enable communities to prepare for, withstand, and emerge stronger from shocks and stresses in a way that reduces chronic vulnerability and keeps them on the pathway to development.

"Disasters and shocks pose an unparalleled threat to the world's most vulnerable communities and hamstring the global humanitarian response," said USAID Administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah. "This new bold partnership will help the global community pivot from being reactive in the wake of disaster to driving evidence-based investments that enable cities, communities, and households to better manage and adapt to inevitable shocks. USAID is proud to partner with The Rockefeller Foundation in advancing this new model, harnessing public-private partnerships and empowering country leadership to end extreme poverty."

The Global Resilience Partnership will focus on the Sahel, the Horn of Africa, and South and Southeast Asia, areas particularly susceptible to chronic stresses and extreme shocks. In the Horn and Sahel, some 23 million people were affected by food insecurity due to drought in 2011 and 2012. By 2025 in South and Southeast Asia, over 400 million people are expected to be vulnerable to flooding.

"The Global Resilience Partnership will help communities and individuals capitalize on the resilience dividend—the difference between where a region is after a shock where resilience investments have been made, compared to where the region would be if it hadn't invested in resilience," said Rockefeller Foundation President Dr. Judith Rodin. "We can't always prevent shocks and stresses, but we can better prepare for them."

The need for the Resilience Partnership is clear: Over the last 30 years, total development losses as a result of recurring crises represent $3.8 trillion worldwide. The rising toll of climate change combined with population growth means more people stand in harm's way, and many of them are already poor or vulnerable. The number of weather-related disasters has tripled in the last 30 years, and the cost is up 300 percent to $200 billion every year. While low-income countries were hit by only 9 percent of these disasters, they represented 48 percent of all fatalities. By better coordinating current efforts, engaging new actors, and drawing on new tools like predictive analytics, the Global Resilience Partnership aims to ensure that investments are lasting and yield a resilience dividend for all.

An essential feature of the Global Resilience Partnership will be a competitive Resilience Challenge—a call out to the best and brightest to present bold and innovative solutions to the toughest challenges facing the three regions. The Challenge will launch later this year and be open to non-profits, academic institutions, and the private sector, with a focus on local and regional players.

About The Rockefeller Foundation
For more than 100 years, The Rockefeller Foundation's mission has been to promote the well-being of humanity throughout the world. Today, The Rockefeller Foundation pursues this mission through dual goals: advancing inclusive economies that expand opportunities for more broadly shared prosperity, and building resilience by helping people, communities and institutions prepare for, withstand, and emerge stronger from acute shocks and chronic stresses. To achieve these goals, The Rockefeller Foundation works at the intersection of four focus areas – advance health, revalue ecosystems, secure livelihoods, and transform cities – to address the root causes of emerging challenges and create systemic change. Together with partners and grantees, The Rockefeller Foundation strives to catalyze and scale transformative innovations, create unlikely partnerships that span sectors, and take risks others cannot – or will not. To learn more, please visit www.rockefellerfoundation.org.

About USAID
USAID is the lead U.S. Government agency that works to end extreme global poverty and enable resilient, democratic societies to realize their potential.  For more information, please visit www.usaid.gov.

SOURCE The Rockefeller Foundation