The Asia Pacific region is the most disaster prone in the world. Despite the rapid economicgrowth in the region, many developing countries in particular smaller economies arevulnerable to disasters and other shocks. The impacts of disasters on the economy and peopleare expected to continue and be further aggravated by the effects of climate change triggeringextreme events. While the impacts are multi-sectoral, there is limited evidence of multisectoralpolicy planning and implementation to address disasters and mainstream disaster riskreduction into broader development planning and poverty reduction strategies.The Rio+20 outcome document specifically calls for disaster risk reduction and the building ofresilience1 to disasters to be addressed with a renewed sense of urgency in the context ofsustainable development and poverty eradication. ESCAP resolution 69/12 also sets out the agenda for further enhancing regional cooperation for building resilience to disasters in theregion.The project seeks to enhance knowledge and capacity of government policymakers and officialsto develop policies and strategies into multi-sectoral development planning to manage disasterrisks triggered by natural hazards. In this respect, the project will enhance the capacities ofpolicymakers of targeted countries to adapt methods and tools for integrating disaster riskreduction into national development planning; apply evidence-based and multi sectoral policyanalysis toward building resilience against risks from disasters and other external shocks; applyrisk, damage loss assessment and risk knowledge for planning resilient risk management,recovery and reconstruction strategies and mainstream disaster risk reduction into long-termmulti-sectoral development planning and poverty reduction strategies. These four issues will bea central part of the agenda at the regional workshops as well as the workshops at the nationallevel. The project also promotes multi-sectoral approaches for optimizing the allocation ofscarce resources for development that also helps in reducing vulnerability and exposure, andhence contributes to building disaster resilience in multiple sectors, as well as down the line tothe community level.The targeted countries are the vulnerable developing countries of Asia and the Pacific, includingleast developed and small island developing countries that have taken mainstreaming disasterrisk reduction into development as a national priority, tentatively these are: Afghanistan,Cambodia, Fiji, Maldives, Myanmar, Mongolia, Nepal, Samoa and Tajikistan.ESCAP will collaborate with ECLAC to implement the project, building on the methodologicalapproach for damage and loss assessment and risk assessment tools which enable multisectoralassessment and planning. UNOCHA, UNDP and UNISDR expertise will be mobilized forthe project through the RCM Thematic Working Group on Environment and Disaster RiskManagement. The project will link to the disaster risk reduction work of the UN Country Teamand respective sub-regional organizations to support capacity development processes.