Defying Drought (D2)

In the last 50 years, extreme drought conditions have increased over 230 percent in some regions, translating to double the impact on GDP growth rates in developed countries compared to high-income countries. Most countries remain in drought crisis management mode. They are stuck in siloed sectoral responses, failing to advance past the emergency management and short-term planning stages and onto more comprehensive and strategic investments in drought resilience.

The objective of the WBG Academy Defying Drought (D2) Impact Program is to reduce the impacts of drought through practical solutions in monitoring and forecasting, proactive water management, water conservation and agricultural water management, and financing drought mitigation and recovery, while fostering policy dialogue, innovation, and capacity building.

Representatives from Ministries of Economy and Finance, Environment, Water, Agriculture, private sector organizations, technical experts and academia will work together to:

Gain a deep understanding of the macro-economic and cross-sectoral impacts of droughts in their countries.
Learn from and adapt good practice measures from around the world to their own country specific contexts, starting with the development of an interactive and iterative drought monitor and early warning system/process.
Learn how to develop targeted investment plans through public and private partnerships and stakeholder engagement.

Program Launched:September 29-30, 2025, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Participating countries: Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Senegal. Practical solutions will be leveraged from Brazil, Eswatini, Morocco, and other countries.

Partners:

International Institute for Water and Environmental Engineering (2iE),
the Global Water Security and Sanitation Partnership (GWSP)

Resources: