Bahamas will enhance its natural disaster risk management with support from the IDB

The Bahamas is one of the countries in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region most exposed to natural disasters, having registered 400 fatalities and estimated damages of nearly 7 billion dollars in the last 20 years. According to the Index of Governance and Public Policies in Disaster Risk Management (iGOPP) developed by Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and endorsed by the United Nations, the Bahamas’ score was only 22%, below the 33% average for countries in the LAC region.

The Bahamas has received financial support from IDB through a 160-million dollars loan with the aim of improving its natural disaster risk governance. The loan has an amortization period of 20 years and a grace period of 5.5 years. The operation seeks to create better governance conditions for implementing public policies for risk identification and reduction, disaster preparedness, recovery, and financial protection.