Natural disasters directly affect a country#s development progress and poverty reduction, by having the largest negative impact on the most vulnerable (poorest) segments of society and by diverting resources that could otherwise be used for further development. The objectives of the project are to support the efforts of disaster risk reduction globally through a more explicit understanding of earthquake and tsunami risk and vulnerability, options for mitigation, and leadership development. The total cost of of the proposed project is US$425,000, of which the financing plan for recipient is US$390,000 and the planned supervision budget for the Bank is US$35,000. The planned implementation period is 3 years.