The Political Economy of Natural Disaster Insurance: Lessons from the Failure of a Proposed Compulsory Insurance Scheme in Germany

This paper studies the politico-economic reasons for the refusal of a proposed compulsory flood insurance scheme in Germany. It provides the rationale for such scheme and outlines the basic features of a market-orientated design. The main reasons for the political down-turn of this proposal were the misperceived costs of a state guarantee, legal objections against a compulsory insurance, distributional conflicts between the federal government and the Ger-man states (Länder) on the implied administrative costs, and the well-known charity hazard of ad-hoc disaster relief. The focus on pure market solutions proved to be an ineffective strategy for policy advice in this field.

Rules Rather Than Discretion: Lessons from Hurricane Katrina

This paper explores options for programs to be put in place prior to a disaster to avoid large and often poorly-managed expenditures following a catastrophe and to provide appropriate protection against the risk of those large losses which do occur. The lack of interest in insurance protection and mitigation by property owners and by public sector agencies prior to a disaster often creates major problems following a catastrophic event for victims and the government. Property owners who suffer severe damage may not have the financial resources easily at hand to rebuild their property and hence will demand relief. The government is then likely to respond with costly but poorly targeted disaster assistance. To avoid these large and often uneven ex post expenditures, we consider the option of mandatory comprehensive private disaster insurance with risk based rates. It may be more efficient to have an ex ante public program to ensure coverage of catastrophic losses and to subsidize low income residents who cannot afford coverage rather than the current largely ex post public disaster relief program.

SHS (Simple Housing Solution) Methodology: Community (Re) Building in Critical Situations

The SHS - Simple Housing Solution - methodology helps to facilitate the process of (re) construction in critical situations (post-disaster, post-conflict, refugee settlement, relocation of populations from risk areas, among others). It was conceived with the philosophy of gathering basic knowledge that can be useful in the (re) construction of housing units and basic collective equipment (such as schools, health clinics), in a joint effort (community working system), using low cost constructive technologies. The idea is to help communities that are victims of disasters and conflicts to better organize their own recovery, and provide help via the guidance and supervision of qualified technical assistants (engineers and / or architects) who can be hired by the local community, government or NGOs, for these purposes. This paper aims to present the Simple Housing Solution methodology and the main results of SHS Project, focusing on investigations related to the construction technology of partially reinforced masonry with soil-cement bricks. Currently, new research is being conducted to improve the existing model of residency for critical situations, seeking to broaden its working range. After the current phase is concluded, the next step will be the construction of a prototype house in natural scale, on a seismic platform, to study the effects of simulated seismic actions on the house. In order to achieve this task, financial support is sought from sponsors, as well as technical cooperation with LNEC - National Laboratory of Civil Engineering, in Portugal. Keywords: Disaster recovery, housing recovery, conflict recovery, refugee settlements, risk managemen

Why Information Matters: A Foundation for Resilience

Embracing Change: The Critical Role of Information, a research project by the Internews' Center for Innovation & Learning, supported by the Rockefeller Foundation, combines Internews' longstanding effort to highlight the important role ofinformation with Rockefeller's groundbreaking work on resilience. The project focuses on three major aspects:- Building knowledge around the role of information in empowering communities to understand and adapt to different types of change: slow onset, long-term, and rapid onset / disruptive;- Identifying strategies and techniques for strengthening information ecosystems to support behavioral adaptation to disruptive change; and- Disseminating knowledge and principles to individuals, communities, the private sector, policymakers, and other partners so that they can incorporate healthy information ecosystems as a core element of their social resilience strategies

Professional Standards and Legal Standard Setting

This Article draws attention to the nascent efforts of emergency medical personnel, convened under World Health Organization auspices, to improve humanitarian health responses following catastrophic natural disasters. The Foreign Medical Team Working Group (FMT-WG) is pursuing new professional standards related to sectoral coordination, classification and registration. As its approach has been significantly influenced by the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group\u27s (INSARAG) prior advances in these areas, INSARAG\u27s contributions will first be highlighted. While more atypical contributors to international lawmaking than traditionally studied, the efforts by both groups shed significant light into the burgeoning International Disaster Response Law field. Two principle assertions here: that soft law-oriented technical guidelines can address highly time-sensitive, operational challenges related to transnational relief; and that ongoing professional self-regulation within specific response sectors may bolster state willingness to open its borders to outside international relief, even in the absence of a formal convention to do so