The UN Disaster Risk Financing Platform was launched at COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye, bringing together six UN agencies to make emergency funding faster and more predictable.
The platform will combine funding, insurance, data and predictive analysis to help governments and humanitarian agencies act before disasters escalate.
Pre-arranged financing currently accounts for less than 2% of global humanitarian funding.
The platform seeks to close the gap by pooling expertise and coordinating financial solutions involving UN agencies, insurers and financial markets.
The agencies will remain operationally independent while sharing data, technical expertise and financing approaches. The platform has already produced initial results.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have secured insurance policies providing financial protection for anticipatory-action programmes, supported by specialist teams from the World Food Programme (WFP).
The International Organisation for Migration will contribute displacement-risk analysis to help protect communities before disasters force people from homes.
“A robust forecast can give us days, sometimes even weeks, to act before a flood, storm or heatwave puts children at risk,” UNICEF Global Practice Director for Climate and Environment Gernot Laganda said.
“Insurance ensures we have the money available to act on that warning, even in a year when several disasters come at once.”
WFP Assistant Executive Director for Partnerships and Innovation Rania Dagash said the organisation had secured nearly $211 million in pre-arranged financing to protect as many as 9.6 million people in more than 50 countries during 2026.
The platform also includes the Food and Agriculture Organisation, UN refugee agency (UNHCR) and UN migration agency.
UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Operations Antón Leis García said faster and more predictable funding could protect displaced people and host communities while reducing further displacement.
The platform will seek to finance preparations such as safe water, food protection, shelter reinforcement, healthcare supplies and livelihood support before hazards strike.
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Director of Financing and Outreach Lisa Doughten said disasters were becoming more predictable while the money required for early action remained slow and fragmented.
The UN said coordinated financing could reduce costs, extend assistance to more people and improve emergency responses before, during and after disasters.
–UN/ChannelAfrica–
