World Urban flooding is a serious and growing development challenge. It is a global phenomenon which causes widespread devastation, economic damages and loss of human lives.
In the context of rapid demographic growth, urbanization trends and climate changes, urban flooding poses a serious and growing development challenge, particularly for the residents of the rapidly expanding towns and cities around the world.

To help confront the escalating urban vulnerability challenges faced by national and local governments, the World Bank has recently published a new flagship report Cities and Flooding: A Guide to Integrated Flood Risk Management for the 21st Century, as part of its global commitment to Disaster Risk Reduction. Following its release, on April 23rd, the World Bank together with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) celebrated the Geneva launch of the Guide. Christian Blondin, the Director at the Cabinet of the Secretary-General and External Relations opened the event, followed by the presentation by the Lead Author and Lead Urban Specialist and Program Leader of Disaster Risk Management at the World Bank East Asia Pacific Abhas Jha. Commentary was provided by Anders PÃ¥lsson, Fire and Protection Engineer at the City of Kristianstad in Sweden and Bruce Stewart, Chief of the Basis Systems Hydrology at the WMO. The event was moderated by the Head of Communications at UNISDR Denis McClean and included audience discussion at the end of the session.

The Guide gives practical technical guidance to policy and decision-makers and technical specialists in cities facing these challenges. Cities and Flooding provides forward-looking operational guidance on how to manage the risk of floods in a quickly transforming urban environment and changeable climate. It takes a strategic and integrated approach to managing flood risk, in which appropriate measures are assessed, selected and integrated in a process that both informs and involves the full range of stakeholders.