Social protection refers to a broad set of government transfers of income or services designed to reduce vulnerability and build resilience of individuals, households, and communities. Making social protection disaster-responsive means that current and future levels of disaster risk, projected intensity and frequency of hazards, the exposure of populations and their coping capacities should be incorporated into the review and design of all social protection programmes.

The intersection of COVID-19 and extreme climate events reminds us once again the shared vulnerabilities of South Asia and urgency of sub-regional actions to address the crisis of cascading disasters that are impacting SDG progress in the sub-region.

The Ready for the Dry Years publication series has been a part of joint efforts between ESCAP and ASEAN to support Member States to prepare for intensifying drought risk, by assessing patterns of drought hazard exposure and vulnerability, highlighting drought impacts, and assessing future drought risks in the decades ahead. The second edition of the Report was launched at the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Management, which was held virtually on 27th Nov

In South Asia, against a backdrop of existing critical socioeconomic vulnerabilities, the deluge of weather events starting from cyclones, to floods to the related outbreaks of water/vector-borne diseases demonstrate how disaster impacts cascade and converge and threaten the very chains that hold economic and social systems together. South Asian countries have always been highly vulnerable to natural disasters. But for the first time in living memory, these natural disasters have hit amid a global pandemic.

When crises converge: Responding to natural disasters in South Asia during Covid-19