Economic losses to disasters across the world have already tripled against figures of 2010. According to World Bank managing director Sri Mulyani Indrawati, countries have already lost more than 218 billion dollars. This does not include figures of the recent American floods and the earthquake in Spain. The losses are expected to rise significantly by the end of the year. Taking her turn at the high level of the world reconstruction conference on the sidelines of the just ended 3rd global platform on disaster reduction in Geneva, the World Bank boss said disaster related economic losses are increasing across the world. This she says threatens the economies of low income countries and even outstripping wealth creation across many of the world’s richer nations. Sri Mulyani Indrawati noted that, countries success in disasters will be determined by how prepared they have been for such disasters. She said that the most important issue for the World Bank has always been reconstruction of countries that have been hit by these disasters. “No country is immune, but it is poor countries who are most vulnerable and who find their developmental prospects set back by years of disasters. If recovery is done right, it opens real opportunities for sustainable development,” she said. Drawing on over thirty years of experience financing disaster reconstruction and recovery, preparedness and risk mitigation, the World Bank boss said they have together with partners have learnt valuable lessons from reconstruction programs. She noted that the only way countries will be able to recover from disasters will be preparedness. “Success relies on strong political commitment from government institutions equipped to implement, proper planning, monitoring and coordination and timely access to finance and technical expertise,” she noted. She said these ingredients however are not always present because of some challenges. These challenges include the lack of coordination among international organizations and government and uneven and unpredictable financing that doesn’t always reach those who need it. According to her, there is clear humanitarian, development and economic imperatives for us all to do more to prevent, prepare for and do more to respond for disasters. She concluded that, the way forward would be the development of an effective recovery and reconstruction framework in close collaboration and partnership with all actors-the EU, United Nations, multilateral development banks, international organizations, governments, the private sector and the NGO community. Story by Eddie Ameh/Net2TV/Ghana