GIDRM II (2018-2020)

Fostering Coherence for Resilience

Disaster risk management is at the heart of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. It is also reflected as cross-sectoral issue in the Paris Agreement on Climate Change (article 8), the New Urban Agenda (chapter on ‘Environmentally sustainable and resilient urban development’), and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (goal 1/ no poverty, 9/resilient infrastructure, 11/ sustainable cities, 13/ climate action). The importance of DRM is therefore recognized by all important international post-2015 agendas and its implementation is a globally accepted requirement for all nations. However, there is a lack of coherence between these agendas, which can create a significant additional burden for countries (for example, overlapping responsibilities or duplicate data collection). GIDRM aimed at counteracting this situation in its second project phase.
  • What is coherence?

    GIDRM's understanding of coherence: Synergies identified from an improved knowledge base can generate better policies and…

  • Agenda coherence

    We define agenda coherence - with respect to the implementation of global agendas - as concerted state action in all relevant…

  • Our coherence theses

    GIDRM II has developed twelve theses summarizing our understanding of the complexities of coherence.

  • Coherence in practice

    GIDRM II worked in Latin America & Caribbean and Asia & Pacific, focusing on two pilot countries: Mexico and the Philippines.

Subtitles available in English, German and Spanish.


Our Approach

In 2015, the euphoria surrounding the development of several global agendas failed to notice one crucial aspect: the agendas were negotiated by different specialist communities with their respective perception of global problems and are thusly not well aligned. This limited alignment necessitates cooperation between different ministries, but also between local government units as well as between national and local levels. At the same time, countries need to report on their progress with regard to each of the global agendas at an international level. Especially during the implementation of the agendas, international policy processes are not making sufficient use of synergies, which fosters duplications and overlaps. Different financing and support mechanisms of the global agendas reinforce inefficiencies.

The situation described above potentially creates a significant additional burden: transaction costs are increased due to overlapping responsibilities and duplicated data collection and reporting. At the same time, countries incur tremendous opportunity costs when DRM is not considered in their national climate adaptation, urban development and economic and social development plans and policies. The observed segmentation of the global agendas is therefore also influencing national and local levels of governance.

Good practices
National and sub-national examples of successful agenda-coherence were presented on regional platforms, for instance,

  • in the Latin American/Caribbean network of national governing bodies for public investments,
  • in the Asian Regional Consultative Committee on Disaster Management,
  • at regional events of UNISDR, such as the biennial ministerial conference for disaster risk reduction in Asia and Latin-America.

Through the establishment of a Coherence Practice Group in Asia and through the development of a Guidebook for Public Investments with relevant examples from Latin America and the Caribbean, the topic of coherence was further strengthened within the regions, with the support of regional partners.


Our Goal

The importance of strengthening resilience against climate and disaster risks is a common concern of all post-2015 global agendas, thereby recognizing this urgency. At the same time, these agendas must be implemented hand in hand. GIDRM II aimed at contributing to this need for coherence by Fostering Practical Coherence for Resilience.

Thus, the official goal of GIDRM II was:

GIDRM supports selected international and national, governmental and non-governmental actors in their ambition to achieve coherence between the Sendai Framework and the Paris Climate Agreement, as well as the 2030 Agenda and the New Urban Agenda, with regard to planning, implementing and reporting on disaster risk reduction.


Our Partners

The strong increase in the number and severity of destructive extreme events requires cooperation beyond the borders of the DRM expert community. Only the cooperation with actors who are responsible for public planning, financing, investments and data collection, in particular, enabled us to address the topic of DRM successfully, sustainably and appropriately.

GIDRM II worked closely with like-minded organizations and donor agencies. A few examples but not an exhaustive list includes:


• Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) as the Secretariat of the Regional Consultative Committee on Disaster Management (RCC)
• The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR)
• The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
• The regional office of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

• Latin American Network of National Systems of Public Investment (Red SNIP, by its initials in Spanish)
• The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR)
• The American Statistical Conference (CEA, by its initials in Spanish)
• The Open-ended Intergovernmental Expert Working Group on Indicators and Terminology Related to Disaster Risk Reduction (OIEWG)

Within those two regions, GIDRM II focused on two pilot countries: Mexico and the Philippines.


In Mexico, our direct partner is the Investment Unit of the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit of México (SHCP, by its initials in Spanish). The Investment Unit participates in the regulation, planning, programming, evaluation, budgeting and monitoring of investment programs and projects. Furthermore, SHCP promotes investment modalities to complement public resources with private resources, in accordance with the objectives and strategies of the National Development Plan. The goal is to have the investment expenditure of the Federal Public Administration allocated efficiently and effectively in the investment programs and projects that benefit society.

As part of the internal structure of the Investment Unit, the Center for Studies for the Preparation and Socioeconomic Evaluation of Projects (CEPEP, by its initials in Spanish), is key as our second partner. This is because it is a permanent center for methodology development and training in the preparation and socioeconomic evaluation of projects. It is also a support center for the SHCP and other Federal, State, and Municipal entities as well as the entities of the Federal Public Administration that require help in the preparation, evaluation, and review of investment projects.

In the Philippines, we predominantly work with the Department for the Interior and Local Government (DILG). DILG is the executive department of the Philippine government responsible for promoting peace and order, ensuring public safety and strengthening local government capability for effective delivery of basic services to its citizenry. The Local Government Academy of DILG caters to the needs of Local Government Units (LGUs) nationwide from program design to training implementation, and other forms of technical assistance. DILG has the mandate to “formulate plans, policies and programs to strengthen the technical, fiscal and administrative capacity of local government”. In addition, we are working closely with the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) and the Climate Change Commission (CCC) since they are the national focal points for the 2030 Agenda, the Sendai Framework and the Paris Agreement respectively.

GIDRM is commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.


GIZ is a member of the Inter-ministerial Working Group Sendai, next to its other members: the BMZ, the AA (Federal Foreign Office), the BMI (German Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community), the GRC (German Red Cross) and the BBK (Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance). Furthermore, GIDRM has close ties with the National Focal Point for the Sendai Framework in Germany.

GIDRM II launched regional initiatives to tackle global challenges across countries and policy areas: the Coherence Practice Group in the Asia Pacific Region and the CCC Approach in Latin America and the Carribean. To find out more about our regional initiatives, click here.

Regional Work