The US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Rockefeller Foundation have announced a $100 million Global Resilience Partnership that lays out a bold new vision for building resilience to disasters, food insecurity, the effects of climate change and other factors contributing to poverty in communities across Asia and Africa. Each year, hundreds of millions of people are struck by sudden shocks, such as typhoons, storms, floods, earthquakes and tsunamis that destroy lives and livelihoods in an instant. Equally destructive are the slower chronic stresses, like rising temperatures and changing weather and disease patterns, which affect workers, water and food supplies, sometimes to the point of crisis. The poor suffer the greatest setbacks in these situations, as they often lack the ability or resources to protect their lives and possessions. This comes at a cost to all of society, as experts estimate that nearly one-third of all development investments are lost to disasters.
