New analytical framework for the UCPM Peer Reviews

The UCPM Peer Review programme is a tool made available to civil protection authorities of Member States, UCPM participating states, enlargement and neighbourhood countries under the UCPM legislation. It provides a country or a region with a unique opportunity to reflect on its readiness to cope with natural hazards and human-induced disasters and to identify ways of strengthening its disaster risk management policy and practices

As the backbone of the peer review process, an analytical assessment framework, the Peer Review Assessment Framework (PRAF), has been in place throughout the 2020-2024 programme cycle to ensure structured, standardised and objective reviews. 

A new Disaster Risk Management Peer Review Assessment Framework

The DRM PRAF has been developed to address gaps in the previous analytical framework (the 2021 PRAF) by integrating lessons from recent disasters and advancements in risk management practices and policies. With the support of the Euro-Mediterranean Centre for Climate Change (CMCC), the technical consultant for the programme, the European Commission organised the drafting process, notably through expert consultation: a workshop in Brussels on 24 June 2025 which gathered feedback from disaster risk management specialists, international organisations, academia, and EU institutions and bodies. National experts, who are members of the Disaster Prevention and Risk Management Expert Group (DPEG), were also consulted. 

Important upgrades

The new DRM PRAF is structured in a useful check-list format. It takes into account the recent UCPM policy developments such as the new Preparedness Union Strategy, and introduces important upgrades, such as:

• Participatory and Inclusive Governance: The DRM PRAF emphasises a "whole-of-society" approach, engaging stakeholders from government, civil society, academia, and the private sector. It also covers sub-national capacity through tailored strategies involving local actors with resources and training.
• Climate Adaptation and Systemic Risks: The new framework explicitly integrates climate change adaptation and sustainable development into all stages of DRM. It emphasises addressing systemic, multi-hazard, and transboundary risks, ensuring policies are future-proof.
• Post-Disaster Recovery and Resilience: The DRM PRAF describes "Build Back Better" and "Recover Better" principles, mandating forensic disaster analysis to identify root causes and reduce future risks.
• Cross-Sectoral Policy Coherence: Collaboration across sectors (e.g., defence, health, urban planning) and governance levels. It introduces civil-military coordination and Nature-Based Solutions (NbS), ensuring DRM strategies align with broader goals like poverty eradication and biodiversity conservation.
• Technology-Driven Solutions: The DRM PRAF suggests advanced technologies such as AI, geospatial mapping, and interoperable digital platforms for real-time risk monitoring and scenario analysis.
• Proactive Governance: The framework introduces stress-testing mechanisms and forward-looking scenario analysis to drive continuous policy improvement. This shift from reactive to anticipatory governance ensures DRM systems adapt to emerging threats like AI-generated misinformation and cultural inclusivity challenges. 

It is recommended that the DRM PRAF is also applied in broader contexts beyond the peer reviews. The framework’s flexibility allows it to be applied in for example, policy development, capacity-building, technical assistance and self-assessment. Carrying out various types of analyses in this field by using a common methodology could allow to compare results and extract key challenges and good practices in an easier manner. This could lead to improved integration into future policy, guidelines, or funding priorities.