DRF Country Dianostic Report - Sebria

Following the catastrophic floods in 2014, the government of Serbia began an ambitious transformation of its disaster management system from one of response to one of prevention and mitigation. However, even with a robust disaster risk management approach, the country will remain exposed to budget shocks caused by major natural disasters. The World Bank is providing advisory services to support the government in developing a comprehensive financial protection strategy and in considering the establishment of a fiscal risk unit in the Ministry of Finance. This Disaster Risk Financing Country Note is the first activity to take stock of existing mechanisms and instruments to finance disaster response and to lay the foundation for the development of a comprehensive disaster risk financing strategy. A workshop to discuss the findings of this analysis and consult on the options for next steps was held in Belgrade, Serbia, March 29–30. The workshop was attended by 40 participants from the government of Serbia, including the Ministry of Finance, Public Investment Management Office, Ministry of Interior, Fiscal Council, and international partners, including the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), the International Monetary Fund, and the United Nations Development Programme. This note was developed under a partnership between SECO and the World Bank’s Disaster Risk Financing and Insurance Program (DRFIP) to support middle-income countries in building their financial resilience. The program provides tailored advisory services and institutional capacity building on the public financial management of natural disasters. The engagement in Serbia is jointly implemented between DRFIP and the Disaster Risk Management Team for the Europe and Central Asia Region.