UNDRR has launched a key report aimed at supporting small- and medium-sized businesses to reduce disaster risk and increase resilience.
Reducing risk and building resilience of SMEs is informed by a global survey conducted by UNDRR, facilitated by the ARISE global network, a literature review of available evidence related to building the resilience of SMEs to disasters and many insightful discussions with UNDRR's international partners.
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs), including micro SMEs, are the bedrock of global, national, and local markets. Across the OECD region, two in every three employees works in an SME. When disaster strikes, SMEs are hit harder, suffer longer and are slower to recover than larger businesses. If the global community is to improve the lives and livelihoods of people in emerging and growing economies, we must tackle risk in SMEs. This guidance, authored by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), provides guidance for how to build the resilience of SMEs to multiple hazards, enabling SMEs to be sustainable and competitive in the long run by reducing disaster risks, and with a specific focus on prevention, i.e. activities and measures that help SMEs “avoid potential adverse impacts of hazardous events” and in “reducing vulnerability and exposure” (United Nations 2016).
The reach of the ARISE network enabled the comprehensive surveys and gave the report global coverage. The report can be read here.