Newsletter October 2025
Newsletter October 2025
Newsletter October 2025

Boletín de octubre de 2025

Making the case for DRI

On India’s Parliament TV, DG Amit Prothi spoke with Teena Jha about CDRI’s rapid growth over the past six years, and increasing support for member countries. He emphasized the resilience dividend to be gained by investing in DRI.  

Building the Coalition

Building the Coalition

Jason Keats Hall, Jamaican High Commissioner to India, reflects on the benefits of Coalition membership. This quarter, four countries and two institutions joined the Coalition, expanding membership to 60. This growth reflects a growing international commitment to resilient infrastructure.

Leading global conversations on DRI

CDRI convenes Coalition members and global experts to advance DRI agenda ahead of COP 30

A new Community of Practice has been convened to underscore infrastructure resilience as key to climate adaptation, advancing national efforts to achieve the Global Goal on Adaptation. It unites governments, experts, and communities to shape recommendations for integrating DRI into national adaptation strategies and planning.  

IFiA

CDRI highlights need for DRI in Africa

The African continent is at risk of $12.7 billion annual losses caused by disasters, emphasizing urgent need for resilience. Launched during Africa Climate Week, CDRI’s GIR Working Paper calls for increased funding, effective early warning systems, and stronger institutions to enhance infrastructure resilience across the continent. 

CDRIatG20

The resilience dividend: CDRI at the G20 infrastructure working group

At the G20 IWG in South Africa, CDRI showcased tools like the Global Infrastructure Risk & Resilience Model, GIRI, to promote resilient, risk-informed planning, while advocating inclusive development through investible pipelines, blended finance, and cross-border governance for vulnerable regions. 

Champions of DRI

Champions of DRI

Ede Ijjasz, Lead Coordinating Author of CDRI’s 2025 Global Infrastructure Resilience Report, highlights the progress from risk identification to actionable solutions, broadening hazard coverage, quantifying economic impacts, and integrating finance, technology, and nature to unlock infrastructure’s resilience dividend. 

Promoting risk-informed policy and practice

Strengthening DRI in the Bay of Bengal

The Bay of Bengal region faces annual disaster losses of over USD 52 billion. A CDRI–Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) workshop in New Delhi convened 25 experts to advance resilience priorities. BIMSTEC Secretary-General highlights how cooperation can strengthen national systems in the region.   

Newsletter October 2025

Supporting schools to manage extreme heat

CDRI has convened a Community of Practice on ‘Heat-Smart Schools’ to address the impact of extreme heat on education, emphasize knowledge exchange, policy innovation, and practical solutions to create heat-resilient school infrastructure. This can protect student health, ensure learning continuity, and promote equity in climate adaptation.  

health_infra_resilience

Health infrastructure resilience

In the Northeastern Indian state of Sikkim, CDRI and WHO India are enhancing health infrastructure resilience through training, audits, and planning. This project strengthens emergency preparedness post-2023 floods and develops scalable models for safer healthcare in mountainous regions facing climate and disaster risks. 

Enhancing capacities to impact DRI & post-disaster recovery

building-fiscal-resilience

Building fiscal resilience in Fiji

Recurring natural hazards pose major fiscal risks to Fiji, impacting infrastructure and debt sustainability. CDRI’s national assessment recommends risk-layered financing, robust safeguards, and data-driven planning to enhance disaster preparedness and support sustainable recovery across critical infrastructure sectors. 

building-resilient-water-system

Building resilient urban water systems in Sri Lanka

The CDRI project in Sri Lanka’s Colombo, Kotte, and Kelaniya aims to boost urban resilience by enhancing climate-resilient water safety plans. It will benefit 2.2 million residents with safer water, empower local officials with data-driven skills, and secure $3.56 million for resilient infrastructure. 

Early warning systems boost preparedness in SIDS

Carlos Paulino, Deputy Director of Planning, Emergency Operations Center, Dominican Republic, highlights how the IRIS project is enhancing disaster preparedness by funding multi-hazard early warning systems and a national emergency atlas, boosting infrastructure resilience and reducing vulnerability through data-driven planning and coordination.  

Viewpoint

Staff testimonial

Shriya Rai, a Specialist in the Partnerships team, reflects on her journey at CDRI, noting how her work is both timely and transformational. She highlights the power of collaboration among diverse organizations to drive sustainable development and advance global resilience and infrastructure mandates. 

Aishwarya Pillai

Lead Specialist

Alpana dirige las alianzas institucionales, la gobernanza y la movilización de recursos en la CDRI, promoviendo colaboraciones intersectoriales que impulsan la programación de infraestructuras resilientes en los países miembros y las organizaciones. Con más de 25 años de experiencia en desarrollo internacional, salud global y el sector sin ánimo de lucro, aporta una profunda experiencia en estrategias de recaudación de fondos, compromiso de los donantes y ejecución de cambios estratégicos. 

En la CDRI, Alpana ha desempeñado un papel fundamental en la creación de alianzas estratégicas con gobiernos, organizaciones internacionales y entidades filantrópicas. También desempeña un papel clave en el fortalecimiento de los sistemas institucionales y los mecanismos de gobernanza de la junta directiva, en el marco de la transición de la Coalición hacia una organización internacional. 

Antes de incorporarse a la CDRI, Alpana ocupó puestos de alta dirección en The George Institute for Global Health, Plan India, WaterAid India y SOS Children's Villages, donde dirigió la recaudación de fondos institucionales y cultivó alianzas estratégicas para lograr un impacto social. 

Tiene un máster en Finanzas y Control por la Universidad Musulmana de Aligarh y completó la formación ejecutiva en la Harvard Business School (CSR India). Su trabajo está impulsado por el compromiso de crear alianzas duraderas y basadas en valores que aceleren los resultados del desarrollo sostenible. 

Aishwarya Pillai

Alpana Saha

Director, Partnerships, Governance, and Resource Mobilisation 

Alpana dirige las alianzas institucionales, la gobernanza y la movilización de recursos en la CDRI, promoviendo colaboraciones intersectoriales que impulsan la programación de infraestructuras resilientes en los países miembros y las organizaciones. Con más de 25 años de experiencia en desarrollo internacional, salud global y el sector sin ánimo de lucro, aporta una profunda experiencia en estrategias de recaudación de fondos, compromiso de los donantes y ejecución de cambios estratégicos. 

En la CDRI, Alpana ha desempeñado un papel fundamental en la creación de alianzas estratégicas con gobiernos, organizaciones internacionales y entidades filantrópicas. También desempeña un papel clave en el fortalecimiento de los sistemas institucionales y los mecanismos de gobernanza de la junta directiva, en el marco de la transición de la Coalición hacia una organización internacional. 

Antes de incorporarse a la CDRI, Alpana ocupó puestos de alta dirección en The George Institute for Global Health, Plan India, WaterAid India y SOS Children's Villages, donde dirigió la recaudación de fondos institucionales y cultivó alianzas estratégicas para lograr un impacto social. 

Tiene un máster en Finanzas y Control por la Universidad Musulmana de Aligarh y completó la formación ejecutiva en la Harvard Business School (CSR India). Su trabajo está impulsado por el compromiso de crear alianzas duraderas y basadas en valores que aceleren los resultados del desarrollo sostenible. 

Agathe Nougaret –