​The international agreement to reduce disaster risk – the Hyogo Framework for Action – will be renegotiated through a series of regional meetings in 2014 before a new agreement, the ‘HFA2′, is signed in March 2015 in Sendai, Japan. The successor framework for the Millennium Development Goals will be defined on a similar timeframe. As we edge closer to 2015, we have an unprecedented opportunity to lock in a favourable and multifaceted international policy landscape for tackling disaster risk worldwide.

The Overseas Development Institute (ODI) and Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) are jointly hosting a new event series titled Rethinking International Policy for Reducing Disaster Risk. The series examines some of the more thorny issues involved in renegotiating the Hyogo Framework for Action, including public private partnerships, use of risk assessments, fragile states and conflict, effective governance for disaster risk reduction (DRR), gender senstive DRR, among others. Events will be held at ODI and at key international DRR conferences in 2014.

This panel event is the second in this series. It will examine the proliferation and variety of disaster risk assessments conducted over the last 10 years, and ask why they have not been very effective in informing development plans and other public and private sector decisions. Speakers will also share their views on what the HFA2 should include to improve the formulation, production and policy influence of risk assessments.