The Resilience Challenge

Implementing Partner: Build Change

Project name:Research: Global Infrastructure Resilience Report, First Edition, Chapter 1

This chapter emphasizes infrastructure’s critical role in sustainable development, examining resilience across social, economic, asset, service, supply chain, systemic, and fiscal dimensions.

It highlights key challenges, weak governance, environmental degradation, and climate change, that disproportionately affect low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

With heightened risks and infrastructure deficits, LMICs require robust resilience strategies to mitigate vulnerabilities, enhance adaptive capacity, and build sustainable infrastructure systems that support long-term development in disaster prone regions.

Infrastructure risks
in LMICs
0 %
In costs annually due
to disrupted services
$ 0 bn

Impact

1

Strengthening infrastructure governance in LMICs can significantly reduce disaster risks by improving asset resilience and minimizing service disruptions. This, in turn, enhances sustainability, ensures long-term functionality, and supports broader development goals in hazard-prone regions.

2

Reducing systemic risks like climate change can reduce infrastructure losses, enhance resilience, and promote economic stability in vulnerable regions. Strengthening adaptation strategies and risk-informed investments will safeguard critical infrastructure, ensuring long-term sustainability and development progress.

3

Strengthening fiscal resilience can attract private investment, reduce infrastructure deficits, and foster sustained economic growth in LMICs. By enhancing financial stability and risk management, countries can build resilient infrastructure systems that support long-term development and prosperity.

Resources

Aishwarya Pillai

Lead Specialist

Alpana heads institutional partnerships, governance, and resource mobilization at CDRI, advancing cross-sector collaborations that drive resilient infrastructure programming across Member Countries and organizations. With over 25 years of experience spanning international development, global health, and the non-profit sector, she brings deep expertise in fundraising strategy, donor engagement, and delivering strategic change. 

At CDRI, Alpana has been pivotal in forging strategic alliances with governments, international organizations, and philanthropies. She also plays a key role in fortifying institutional systems and board governance mechanisms as the Coalition transitions into an international organization. 

Before joining CDRI, Alpana held senior leadership roles at The George Institute for Global Health, Plan India, WaterAid India, and SOS Children’s Villages, leading institutional fundraising and cultivating strategic partnerships for social impact. 

She holds a Master’s in Finance & Control from Aligarh Muslim University and completed Executive Education at Harvard Business School (CSR India). Her work is driven by a commitment to building enduring, values-based partnerships that accelerate sustainable development outcomes. 

Alpana Saha

Director, Partnerships, Governance, and Resource Mobilisation 

Alpana heads institutional partnerships, governance, and resource mobilization at CDRI, advancing cross-sector collaborations that drive resilient infrastructure programming across Member Countries and organizations. With over 25 years of experience spanning international development, global health, and the non-profit sector, she brings deep expertise in fundraising strategy, donor engagement, and delivering strategic change. 

At CDRI, Alpana has been pivotal in forging strategic alliances with governments, international organizations, and philanthropies. She also plays a key role in fortifying institutional systems and board governance mechanisms as the Coalition transitions into an international organization. 

Before joining CDRI, Alpana held senior leadership roles at The George Institute for Global Health, Plan India, WaterAid India, and SOS Children’s Villages, leading institutional fundraising and cultivating strategic partnerships for social impact. 

She holds a Master’s in Finance & Control from Aligarh Muslim University and completed Executive Education at Harvard Business School (CSR India). Her work is driven by a commitment to building enduring, values-based partnerships that accelerate sustainable development outcomes.