Los Angeles, CA – March 26, 2019 – Ron Nechemia, the President of the Global Bank Group1, has today extended his condolences following the loss of lives and expressed support to all of those in Southern Africa affected by the deadly cyclone that devastated a multitude of nations beginning in Mozambique on March 4th reaching its peak on March 14 with sustained winds of 195 km/hr (120 mph) and finally dissipated on March 21st. The President of the Global Bank Group has today issued the following statement on behalf of the Bank Group, its Affiliates, Affiliated Specialized Agencies, Funds, and Programmes:
"Yet another natural disaster has become a deadly disaster with hundreds of people losing their lives, and hundreds more remain unaccounted. Cyclone Idai is regarded by many as the worst cyclone in this region, surpassing the 1892 Mauritius Cyclone, the 1927 Madagascar cyclone, and the 2000 Leon-Eline Cyclone, leaving over 900 square miles of land under water, says Ron Nechemia, the President of the Global Bank Group. He added, “We, the Global Bank Group (the group of five interrelated organizations that make up the Global Bank Group) are saddened by the loss of life and devastation caused by the deadly tropical Cyclone Idai over Southern Africa.”
To date, the cyclone has led to a loss of 661 lives, injured 2,284 people, displaced 208,621 people and affected more than 429,141 people. The Cyclone has resulted in extensive damage to infrastructure and property including more than 3,140 classrooms damaged affecting more than 90,756 children and inundated more than 497,714 hectares of crops which worsens the already compromised food security situation in the affected areas. Access to health care has also been affected as more than 45 health facilities were destroyed by the cyclone.
“Global Bank Group expresses its deepest condolences and solidarity with the people of the Republics of Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe which bore the brunt of the effects of the recent Cyclone Idai. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of Cyclone Idai in Southern Africa, and all affected as well as with the first responders who are working hard to save lives in the region under challenging conditions. We express our condolences to those who have lost loved ones,” says Ron Nechemia, the President of the Global Bank Group.
The Global Bank Group has already activated the Global Bank Disaster Risk Reduction and Reconstruction Fund – An Umbrella Trust Fund. The GB-DRRRF has the mandate for coordinating the Global Bank Group relief efforts globally. These relief efforts include: (a) bringing risk reduction investments to the scale necessary to enable countries to achieve the Sendai Framework targets by 2030 and prevent disasters undermining progress on the Sustainable Development Goals; (b) supporting client countries to implement the resilience objectives specified in their Nationally Determined Contributions; and (c) to support the implementation of the Global Climate Agreement in Paris, and prevent disasters undermining progress on the Sustainable Development Goals.
The Global Bank Group is committed to supporting a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Africa while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty across the continent. The Bank Group stands in full solidarity with all the impacted Governments of Republics of Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe and the people of the Southern Africa region in the aftermath of this natural disaster, and have offered our full support to assist in the effective post-disaster reconstruction and recovery. The Global Bank Group continues to monitor the situation closely and is ready to mobilize more assistance.
Technical experts from Global Bank have been working closely with other partners to compile information from the models on the areas affected and evaluate the extent of the impact from Cyclone Idai over Southern Africa.
Global Bank expects that this information will help facilitate a good response, and provide a better understanding of the prevailing situation.
“It is unfortunate these massive disasters have happened whilst the development work for the disaster risk reduction and reconstruction instruments of the Global Bank Group including the Global Bank Disaster Risk Reduction and Reconstruction Fund – An Umbrella Trust Fund (GB-DRRRF), the Global Bank Africa Regional Emergency Response Facilities (GB-ARERF), and the Post-disaster Reconstruction and Economic Recovery Fund (PRERF) - a Country-Based Pool Fund (GB-CBPF) - are largely still in progress will soon be made available to governments around the world to better support them in responding to disasters of this nature,” says Ron Nechemia, the President of the Global Bank Group. He added “The Global Bank Group will make an emergency appeal to the benefit of the victims.
The Global Bank Group would like to commend these governments and partners that have already responded, for their efforts in supporting affected communities and call upon more partners, donors, stakeholders, and friends to join the ongoing relief efforts, in solidarity with the Governments and peoples of Mozambique, Malawi, and Zimbabwe, to mitigate the impact of this devastating catastrophe.
About GB-DRRRF
The Global Bank Disaster Risk Reduction and Reconstruction Fund – An Umbrella Trust Fund (GB-DRRRF), established in 2017, is a multi-donor partnership and grant-making financing mechanism. Its purpose is mainstreaming climate change into development to help achieve the Sendai Framework targets by 2030 - a decade-long plan to help make the world safer from disasters caused by natural hazards — and to support the implementation of the Global Climate Agreement in Paris, and prevent disasters undermining progress on the Sustainable Development Goals. The rapid and flexible support offered by the Global Bank Disaster Risk Reduction and Reconstruction Fund makes it a central pillar of the Global Bank Group agencies’ humanitarian response architecture.
More detailed information can be found on the GB-DRRRF’s website http://www.gbdrrrf.org
About Global Bank
Owned by the Global Bank Group, The Bank for International Development and Reconstruction, known as the Global Bank borrows in the international capital markets (the “BIDR,” or the “Global Bank”) and is the Global Bank Group’s long-term sovereign lending institution. As a development bank with an agenda driven by G-7/G-8 and G-20-priorities, its leading priority is to promote global economic and social development. Unlike the multilateral development banks (MDBs), Global Bank is not restricted to operating only in developing countries.
The Global Bank Group represents, develops and supports the collective interests of the Global Bank and any of its business interests globally. Global Bank is a full-fledged private sector global development bank, in formation, – the world’s second global development bank – positioned next to the World Bank Group and next to the preeminent regional development banks. It combines the characteristics of a multilateral development bank with those of a private financial institution. The primary objective of the Global Bank is to reduce poverty in middle-income countries and creditworthy poorer countries by promoting sustainable development. To this end, Global Bank finances primarily public sector infrastructure projects and sustainable development through the provision of sovereign loans to developing countries. Global Bank’s financial objective is not to maximize profit, but to earn an adequate income to ensure its financial strength and to sustain its development activities.
For information about the Global Bank, please visit http://www.global-bank.org
GLOBAL BANK EXTERNAL RELATIONS DEPARTMENT
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1 Global Bank Group, consisting of five institutions, represents, develops and supports the collective interests of its business interests around the world. One of these institutions is The Bank for International Development and Reconstruction known as the Global Bank,(“BIDR,” “Global Bank,” or “Bank”). Global Bank is a full-fledged private sector global development bank, in formation, with legal and regulatory rights including formal approval to utilize the term "Bank" pending – the world’s second global development bank – positioned next to the World Bank and the preeminent regional development banks (MDBs). The Bank for International Development and Reconstruction borrows in the international capital markets.
