More than a financing mechanism, REPAIR shares knowledge to strengthen preparedness for future shocks
In December 2024, Cyclone Chido hit Comoros and destroyed homes and crops on the islands of Anjouan and Mohéli, leaving many without food and shelter and endangering livelihoods. However, earlier that year, Comoros had joined the Regional Emergency Preparedness and Access to Inclusive Recovery Program (REPAIR), approved by the Board of Directors of the World Bank with a US$926 million maximum financing, supported by a US$26 million grant from the Global Shield Financing Facility. Through REPAIR, Comorian authorities were able to request the activation of funds for emergency relief. The access to these funds allowed the Comoros’s operational and financial emergency response system to reach quickly, delivering food, water, temporary shelters, and emergency kits to affected communities as they were needed.
Comoros was the first participating country hit by a disaster soon after joining REPAIR. Now, over a year later, the Comoros Ministry of Finance, the Civil Protection, African Risk Capacity Limited or ARC Ltd. (implementing agency of REPAIR) and the World Bank have come together in a workshop to outline key learnings from the 2024 response to Chido, such as the exemplary leadership of Comoros on the disaster risk finance agenda. It reflects the strong political commitment of the Government to act decisively to preserve lives and livelihoods of people impacted by climate shocks and key learnings from past devastating cyclones. The workshop also aimed to discuss the capacity building annual work plan, identifying tools to provide emergency support to MSMEs, and preparing financial literacy campaigns to empower populations vulnerable to climate shocks, all in order to be better prepared for future shocks.
What did we learn?
The workshop highlighted several important insights. Firstly, the crucial contribution of REPAIR to the financing of the emergency response, ensuring that support could be mobilized quickly and effectively when communities needed it most. Furthermore, the quality of the weather forecasts and upstream coordination with the Civil Security made the response efficient, joined with the solid understanding of the actors on the Program, allowed the response to be close to seamless, reaching affected communities and carrying out relevant financed activities when, where and with whom needed it.
Colonel Abdallah Rafick, Director of Civil Security of Comoros, remarked on what he found to be the most important factor in the emergency response. “Quick disbursement was, to me, a critical asset to save lives and reduce socio-economic impacts”.
However, the response also faced constraints. Reaching remote villages proved particularly challenging, as the delivery of emergency goods was delayed by insufficient pre‑positioned stocks across the islands. These logistical bottlenecks slowed down support to communities. At the same time, authorities struggled to accurately estimate the number of people affected by the Cyclone and their specific needs. As a result, Civil Security teams did not immediately have the adequate kits ready, for example, items required by families with babies or by people with disabilities.
From these learnings, three key takeaways were identified:
The Ministry of Finance, ARC Ltd, and WB will ensure the disbursement of needed goods will be faster to facilitate the response.
The Civil Protection Unit will increase the propositioned emergency stocks, as well as build up its equipment and training.
The Civil Security Service is already working with local communities to ensure responsibilities and processes are in place to improve the early identification of impacted people, their needs, and manage grievances during the delivery if needed.
Results beyond Comoros
The experience shared in this workshop can support other countries facing similar challenges. Especially because Comoros was the very first country to activate REPAIR while the program was barely effective and now gathers Angola, Burundi, Comoros, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Seychelles and Zambia. This first response was built on lessons from the seven other participating countries before REPAIR. After this first activation, they all came together at the REPAIR Annual Regional meeting in South Africa in March 2025. Here key learnings were discussed, and the Governance Framework was worked on and improved.
In December 2025, Malawi and Mozambique suffered heavy rains that have led to severe flooding, claiming hundreds of lives and livelihoods. This has led to both these countries requesting REPAIR to activate their funds for US$2.3 million and US$20 million respectively. Thanks to lessons they have learned from Comoros, Malawi, Mozambique, and any other country in the future can be better prepared with the following knowledge:
Preparedness can be greatly improved with crisis simulation exercises, which enable stakeholders to identify and address potential bottlenecks in the decision-making process or flow-of-funds
The signing of Performance Contracts between the local Ministry of Finance and entities responsible for the response before shocks draws clear roles and responsibilities when a shock occurs.
Close coordination between the national authorities and the implementing agency, ARC Ltd, during the preparation of the emergency response plan, greatly improves the pace and efficacy of the response.
Where do we go from here?
Resident Representative of the World Bank Group in Comoros, Boubacar Sid-Barry, explains “As pioneering country in implementing the REPAIR regional program, the Union of Comoros exemplifies how learning from experience and sharing insights with peer countries can enhance the effectiveness of the initiative. This approach reflects the core mission of the Knowledge Bank.”
And this is clear. We can use knowledge and lessons learned to make REPAIR activations faster and better prepared for future shocks of any of the 12 participating countries in Eastern and Southern Africa. ARC Ltd, the implementing agency, and the relevant authorities are already working on prepositioning stocks with financing support and preparing simulation exercises for the spring. These actions will enable the countries to build their preparedness with stocks of key goods and streamlined processes ahead of future shocks to better protect communities. If we keep learning from each shock, we can keep improving, showcasing how knowledge can make a very real impact.
