World Bank2025-10-282025-10-282025-10-13https://hdl.handle.net/10986/43910Since its inception in 2008, the Development Policy Financing (DPF) with a Catastrophe Deferred Drawdown Option (Cat DDO) instrument has seen significant expansion across all regions, channeling almost five billion US dollars to support countries in the aftermath of a natural catastrophe. As a policy-based instrument, DPF Cat DDOs have served as a strategic platform for sustained policy dialogue, advancing disaster risk management (DRM) as part of countries’ overarching development policy agendas. In the context of escalating risks driven by climate change, rapid urbanization, and other compounding factors, countries and international development partners are placing increasing emphasis on strengthening preparedness and response systems. Drawing from the review of past DPF Cat DDOs, this note proposes a structured three-step approach for designing technically sound DRM policy programs. To inform the design of future DRM policy programs with evidence-based insights, this study examined past DRM policy programs supported through DPF Cat DDOs and distills key lessons learned. It presents the findings of a comprehensive review of all DPF Cat DDO operations approved as of December 31, 2024. While the lessons are drawn primarily from DPF Cat DDOs, the insights are broadly applicable to strengthening DRM policy programs.en-USCC BY-NC 3.0 IGODEVELOPMENT POLICY FINANCINGNATURAL CATASTROPHEDISASTER RISK MANAGEMENTCLIMATE CHANGERAPID URBANIZATIONReportWorld Bank