Millions of lives have been shattered every year by disasters such as drought, storms, major earthquakes, landslides, heat waves, floods, and hurricanes. These natural disasters disrupt daily life and, in the worst cases, unleash dramatic levels of devastation. Events such as the 2005 Hurricane Katrina, 2012 Hurricane Sandy, and 2017 Hurricane Harvey killed thousands of people and generated billions of dollars in losses. Although disasters are quick to strike, their consequences can linger for months and years. The Global Bank Atlantic Reconstruction Fund (The GB-ARF) is dedicated to the Atlantic hurricane region which includes the North Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico. It’s primarily focused on what happens a day after "mega-disasters," catastrophic threats to individual cities, to countries, and to a world region. It will provide for rapid and predictable disaster recovery operations, as a complement to the existing international coordination and financing instruments of various multilateral and bilateral agencies for this purpose. It will also act as an incentive for all developed and developing countries to invest in ex-ante risk management and disaster mitigation initiatives. Read More >>

While meeting life-saving and life-sustaining needs, the Global Bank Atlantic Reconstruction Fund together with the Global Bank Disaster Risk Reduction and Reconstruction Fund and Global Bank carries out research that helps prepare for, respond to, and recover from large-scale disasters — including hurricanes, earthquakes, nuclear accidents, pandemic flu, and terrorist attacks. The GB-ARF’s approach combines research, policy work, education, and high-level advocacy to ensure that the best thinking — and best practices — become part of disaster preparedness and recovery work. The rapid and flexible support offered by the Global Bank Atlantic Reconstruction Fund makes it a central pillar of the Global Bank Group agencies’ humanitarian response architecture. Read More >>