Building greater disaster resilience in the year ahead
Between whiplash changes in geopolitics and the ever-growing number of people and businesses affected by emergencies, 2024 flew by. Business as usual is no longer an option given the worrisome trends shaping the year to come. I, for one, am more eager than ever to harness that “new beginning” energy of this new year to do things not just differently, but better.
A hopeful outlook amidst a bleak landscape: The power of business for good
You have probably read and heard it one too many times: the humanitarian system is struggling, with more frequent and intense emergencies, more people than ever in need of assistance, and more money than ever required to help meet these needs.
With all the pressing economic and political issues they are dealing with, it is understandable that many donor governments are looking to reallocate significant portions of their development and aid budgets. Unfortunately, these cuts will almost always hit vulnerable groups the hardest, including women and girls.
But the inverse is true for the private sector. Even as the world becomes more complicated than ever, local businesses are increasing their investments in preparing for, responding to, and recovering from disasters. They do this because they are embedded in their communities, and understand intuitively that helping their employees, suppliers, and customers become more resilient to disasters also helps their bottom line.
That puts the onus on us, humanitarians and development professionals, to do better in terms of engaging with the private sector, establishing relationships and partnerships so that when a crisis hits (not “if”), everyone knows how to respond as part of a greater whole.
It is also a unique opportunity to work more closely with the private sector and infuse some of their operational strengths into how we do things, enabling a more effective and efficient approach to humanitarian and development efforts.
New leadership close to home
Only a few weeks ago, a new United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator was appointed: Tom Fletcher. With a background in diplomacy and academia, and a hands-on understanding of the power of social media, public communications, and public-private partnerships, he is infusing the humanitarian system with renewed energy and momentum in thinking how we can better deliver lifesaving humanitarian aid.
He believes in the power of storytelling and the importance of lifting the voices of those affected by crises to share how we can support them in getting back on their feet before they leap towards their future.
In the humanitarian field, we have been talking about “localization” for over a decade. But how can we truly move the needle so that we aren’t just amplifying local voices – however important that is – but instead are working to ensure that those affected by crises have the tools and resources to be in the driver’s seat? I believe collaborating with micro-, small, and medium-sized enterprises (often referred to as MSMEs) is an essential part of the solution.
This resonates with the lessons learned from our CBI Member Networks, a constant source of inspiration and brilliant solutions to the challenges posed by disaster preparedness, response, and recovery in what are often resource constrained environments.
A spotlight on innovation and technology
A year ago, I shared my hopes and thoughts for what 2024 might bring. This included connection, collaboration, a big focus on artificial intelligence and technology, the growing challenge of complex crises, the importance of partnerships, and the need for standard operating procedures to facilitate our work.
While all of that remains true, innovation and technology is a particularly important area where business can unlock skills and resources to feed into humanitarian and development efforts. In a recent article I co-authored for the World Economic Forum, I explore examples of what the private sector is already doing on this front to enable greater disaster resilience.
Our challenge at CBI will be to understand where connecting local private sector efforts to broader multinationals and other stakeholders has the potential to replicate and scale-up proven innovative solutions for better disaster preparedness, response, or recovery.
Looking back to look ahead
This year, I look forward to harnessing the potential of new leadership for the opportunity it always presents to turn inward and ensure that we are doing things not just the way we always have, but in a manner that is as impactful as possible.
Doing so by connecting and integrating local and global businesses to the humanitarian and development architecture is what CBI is all about.
If that approach can then be applied systematically, with the optics of developing standard operating procedures (SOPs) while strengthening public-private partnerships to test, improve, and implement such SOPs, our foundations will be reinforced and we can strive to reach more people affected, mobilizing more resources, and saving more lives and livelihoods than ever before.
Thank you for being a part of the CBI journey, and here’s to 2025 being a year of growth, partnership, and changing mindsets to pave the way for a more collaborative and resilient future – as well as the CBI 10-year anniversary, coming up in 2026!
