#BuildBetterBefore to save lives and strengthen economies

For those of us who have family and friends living in earthquake and hurricane prone areas, the 1.3 million people that have died in disasters in the last 25 years are more than a staggering statistic. It’s personal.

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In this video, Luis Triveno (@luis_triveno), Urban Specialist, sits down with Ede Ijjasz-Vasquez (@Ede_WBG), Senior Director, to discuss what the World Bank is doing to make homes safer – before it’s too late.

While Build Back Better efforts during reconstruction provide much needed help to get countries back on their feet, no recovery efforts can bring back the lives lost. But there is good news. While we cannot predict earthquakes or adjust the path of a hurricane, we can avoid life losses and economic disruptions if we Build Better Before. This means working with communities to repair, strengthen, and improve the homes of the poor to make them resilient enough to survive disasters.

The Global Program for Resilient Housing is helping governments retrofit and strengthen homes before the next disaster strikes. Leveraging technologies such as drones, street cameras, machine learning, and pairing it with low-cost, life-saving construction methods, the program provides governments with the actionable knowledge they need to turn tragedy into triumph during the next disaster.

From complex algorithms to well-designed home improvement subsidies, to simple construction design, learn from Ede and Luis what it will take to make homes safer and more resilient to disasters and climate change.

Follow the #BuildBetterBefore conversation on Twitter.

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