The Technical Assistance Financing Facility for Disaster Prevention and Preparedness supports projects, studies and training in disaster and climate resilience and promotes the sharing of knowledge among countries on disaster risk management.

The European Commission launches this new financial support instrument on 29 February 2024.

Europe is becoming increasingly vulnerable to a wide range of hazards, including earthquakes, floods, landslides, wildfires, heatwaves, and other extreme weather events. Between 1980 and 2020, natural disasters affected nearly 50 million people in the European Union (EU), and caused on average an economic loss of €12 billion per year.

Exacerbated by climate change, these events are increasing in number and becoming more intense and frequent, causing significant impacts on the economies in the region, on the physical infrastructure, but more importantly on people. Without climate adaptation interventions, more than 400,000 jobs could be lost annually by 2050, with the overall cost of climate-related extreme weather reaching €170 billion by the end of the century.

Strengthening financial resilience, making smart investments for disaster and climate resilience, and enhancing institutional capacity and preparedness makes economic sense. To be better prepared for disasters, there is a need to scale up investments to bolster disaster prevention and preparedness across the EU and through the Union Civil Protection Mechanism.

Duty Officers at the The Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) — EU Emergency Response Coordination Centre. © European Union, 2022 (photographer: Pierre-Yves Jortay)

About

The Technical Assistance Financing Facility for Disaster Prevention and Preparedness (TAFF) is a partnership between the European Commission through its Directorate-General for Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO), the World Bank and the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR).

Its overall objective is to strengthen the knowledge and capacities of countries under the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) for disaster prevention and preparedness with a focus on:

Strengthening the capacity:

Of civil protection and other relevant competent authorities in scaling up disaster and climate resilience in line with the Union Disaster Resilience Goals and the European Green Deal, as well as the countries’ national priorities

Supporting investments:

In disaster prevention and preparedness through the development of a project pipeline and enhanced administrative capacity.

Improving the knowledge base:

On disaster risk management, and facilitate the sharing of knowledge, good practices and information.

The TAFF is a mechanism which allows national civil protection and disaster risk management authorities to access technical assistance and global knowledge on prevention and preparedness to support country efforts on disaster risk management (DRM). The TAFF is aligned with:

The European Union Disaster Resilience Goals, which focus on enhancing UCPM response capacity, strengthening crisis and emergency preparedness of civil protection, improved risk analytics, anticipation and planning, enhanced early warning systems, and increased risk awareness of the population.
The World Bank’s strategy in the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region, which focuses on supporting a green transition, building resilience, and strengthening institutions.
The GFDRR mission to support communities and countries to reduce risk, prepare for, and recover from disaster by integrating DRM and climate change adaptation into development strategies and programs, and contributing to country efforts in the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030.

TAFF has an initial financial envelope of EUR 6 million in 2024 and two components:

1. Country-specific technical assistance to strengthen the capacity of civil protection and other relevant competent authorities under the UCPM in scaling up investments contributing to disaster and climate resilience. Technical assistance includes various types of analytics, technical studies and recommendations for plans and strategies, piloting of activities, and capacity-building/training activities. Key areas of support include:

Anticipate

Improving anticipation and disaster risk management planning to proactively address potential hazards.

Prepare

Raising risk awareness and preparedness levels among the population to effectively respond to emergencies.

Alert

Enhancing early warning and hydro-meteorological systems for timely and accurate information dissemination.

Secure

Strengthening national civil protection systems to strengthen to prevent and prepare for disasters.

2. Knowledge and capacity building to facilitate the transfer and sharing of knowledge among countries on disaster risk management and facilitate the sharing of good practices across UCPM countries. Knowledge products and activities include, for example, studies, collection of best practices and lessons learned, practical guidance/knowledge notes, interactive workshops and technical deep dives/clinics, and training programs.

How it works

Country-specific technical assistance

Eligible countries include EU Member States, Participating States of the UCPM, and Georgia and Kosovo* in view of their ongoing efforts to join the UCPM.

Eligible entities include national level civil protection authorities or authorities with disaster risk management (DRM) responsibilities of eligible countries.

Expressions of Interest and Shortlisting: Eligible entities can express their interest by completing the below form and submitting it before 18 April 2024. Expressions of interest should be sent to UCPM_TAFF@worldbank.org.

An info session will take place on 22 March at 10.00-12.00 via Webex. Please write to UCPM_TAFF@worldbank.org to receive the Webex connection information.

Proposals and start of activities: Based on the approved shortlist, World Bank/GFDRR, in coordination with beneficiary country and entity develops a full proposal for the proposed activities, and World Bank teams start implementation.

Project duration is expected between 18 and 24 months.

Coordination and reporting: The World Bank/GFDRR teams implement activities in coordination with the beneficiary, and disseminate knowledge and lessons learned.

Knowledge and capacity building

The selection of knowledge and capacity building activities will consider country-specific activities and topics of interest that are relevant and can benefit UCPM countries in terms of knowledge transfer.

*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.