Connecting Business initiative

Connecting Business initiative Connecting Business Initiative strengthens business engagement to reduce disaster risks, prepare and respond to emergencies and help communities recover

🌀 Jamaica prepared as best they could for Hurricane Melissa, but did not expect the intensity of devastation that comes ...
11/12/2025

🌀 Jamaica prepared as best they could for Hurricane Melissa, but did not expect the intensity of devastation that comes with a Category-5 storm. Just on the agriculture front, where do you even begin to rebuild, replant, and recover?

That was the very topic of conversation in an exchange between Cenaced (the CBI Member Network in Mexico) and private sector partners in Jamaica. CBI brought both sides together for to talk about their respective experiences, insights, and knowledge about post-hurricane recovery.

Agricultural experts and private sector leaders joined an exchange of lessons and ideas. But this wasn't just a technical exercise -

🫂 the conversation was deeply human, and
💪 stories of resilience emerged, alongside
🌱 strategies for recovery.

Some of the initiatives that came up include:
🌽 seed sharing / seed banks
🚜 pooling resources
🌽 strength in solidarity
🚜 moving production to safer areas
🌽 reviving poultry operations
🚜 community-based risk mapping
🌽 restoring traditional farming practices

But recovery isn't just about crops - it's about nutrition, dignity, and protecting the most vulnerable.

One participant summarized it well: “We’re not just rebuilding farms. We’re planting hope.”

Thank you to Cenaced for being so willing to share their experience and insights. That's what the CBI community is all about.

[Photo of peppers growing in fertile soil in Mexico by Jorge Zapata on Unsplash; photo of a corn farmer in Mexico by Marco Antonio Casique Reyes on Unsplash]

Ever thought about the role of banks in the case of a floor or earthquake?Today, for International Bank Day, we reached ...
04/12/2025

Ever thought about the role of banks in the case of a floor or earthquake?

Today, for International Bank Day, we reached out to our partners to see what kind of projects they might have with banks - and we were amazed by the response.

Banks have a paradoxical position in disasters: vulnerable to disruption while uniquely positioned to determine how quickly communities bounce back - because access to cash can make a huge difference in times of crisis.

Here are five ways in which they can support preparedness, response, and recovery:

💶 emergency cash transfers
💰 pre-positioned funding mechanisms
🏥 disaster risk reduction infrastructure
🔢 financial literary and capacity building, and
🚧 long-term recovery and reconstruction.

Our latest article on the CBI website delves into the above with examples from around the world including a number of our partners and financial institutions.

Thank you to everyone featured for the incredible work you do! Asia Pacific Alliance for Disaster Management Sri Lanka (A-PAD SL), HSBC, Cenaced, Banamex, Santander, Plateforme Humanitaire du Secteur Privé Madagascar, MVola, BNI Madagascar, BRED Bank Madagascar, Hombro a Hombroo, Asociación de Bancos del Perú - Asbanc, Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation, Fintech Alliance PH, Türk İş Dünyası Konfederasyonu, Türkiye İş Bankası

Photo: Sanma province supplier and customer complete their first live transaction as part of an Unblocked cash transfer initiative powered by blockchain and implemented by the Vanuatu Business Resilience Council and Oxfam. Photo: Groovy Banana/VBRC

🌀 Cyclone Ditwah - Sri LankaSri Lanka is facing widespread flooding and landslides after days of intense monsoon rains i...
03/12/2025

🌀 Cyclone Ditwah - Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is facing widespread flooding and landslides after days of intense monsoon rains intensified by Cyclone Ditwah.

As of 30 November, the Sri Lankan Disaster Management Centre reported

🚨 over 998,000 people affected
🚨 212 deaths
🚨 218 individuals missing, and
🚨 more than 180,000 people displaced

Our partner the Asia Pacific Alliance for Disaster Management Sri Lanka (A-PAD SL) is working closely with the Disaster Management Centre and the National Building Research Organization to maintain an up-to-date picture of needs and operational gaps.

Its search and rescue team - that we've posted about here in the past - has completed multiple missions, evacuating 19 people from high-risk locations, conducting safety assessments, and distributing food to affected households.

We'll keep updating our emergency page, and share any crucial developments here - or check out A-PAD SL's page for their updates.



Photo: A-PAD SL

"... You see, silence ‎isn’t just the absence of noise. ‎It’s the weight of a woman ‎standing in a ration line ‎being to...
28/11/2025

"... You see, silence
‎isn’t just the absence of noise.
‎It’s the weight of a woman
‎standing in a ration line
‎being told she’s
‎not needy enough.

‎That’s the kind of silence
‎that murders slowly.
‎With forms.
‎With policies.
‎With polite emails
‎that forget your name
‎and remember your case number..."

An excerpt from "I Tried to Tell You", one of many powerful poems by Peter Kidi writing from Kenya's Kakuma refugee camp. Three poems were recently shared as videos in The New Humanitarian.

It's easy to stick to numbers and data, and select stories. But if we really want to connect to our fellow humans who are experiencing any one of the many facets of any one of so many crises, sometimes, poetry is the answer.

Take a moment to view the videos, listen to the words, sit with them.

If nothing else, it will remind you why you work in this field. Or perhaps, it will remind you of how much we accept as part of the system, when instead we should be pushing back and demanding for more, better, different.

The only way to a better future is to dare imagine what that looks like, and work together - across sectors and borders - to be bold and build it.

Photo by Alex Palmer via the Yale Journal

"With everything going on in the world, this season, let’s turn gratitude into action. Let’s invest in resilience, not s...
27/11/2025

"With everything going on in the world, this season, let’s turn gratitude into action. Let’s invest in resilience, not stuff."

"Resilience isn’t about avoiding crises, but about taking them as much in stride as possible, reducing their impact, and getting back up as soon as possible."

With that in mind, five things you can do this week to invest in resilience:

🚨 Understand risks
🥫 Be practical
💡 Stay informed
📢 Raise awareness
🤝 Invest in business resilience

For more details on what that might look like and great practical resources from PreventionWeb, the Red Cross, the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation & the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, read the full article.

And to all of you celebrating it, Happy Thanksgiving!



Photo by Ashkan Forouzani on Unsplash

Did you know that...⚠️Asia-Pacific accounts for 40% of global disasters each year✈️Logistics makes up nearly 70% of emer...
26/11/2025

Did you know that...

⚠️Asia-Pacific accounts for 40% of global disasters each year

✈️Logistics makes up nearly 70% of emergency response costs

✅Response times directly shape survival rates within the first 72 hours

🤝Public–private partnerships significantly boost national readiness

Earlier this week, CBI participated in the Asia Pacific Alliance for Disaster Management Sri Lanka (A-PAD SL) International Symposium 2025 in Colombo, where Sadhana Mohan moderated the session on “Enhancing Operational Readiness: Strengthening Emergency Response and Search & Rescue Capabilities.”

🆘 Why this matters:

APAD brought together a panel of operational leaders from across the region
🌏 Dr. Mototaka Inaba, ARROWS, Peace Winds Japan
✈️ Claire Leow, Airlink Inc., Asia & the Pacific
⚓ Air Vice Marshal Dilshan Wasage (Retd), Sri Lanka Ports Authority
🧭 Mr. Richard Adams, Taskforce Kiwi, New Zealand
📡 Mr. Asith De Silva, Dialog Axiata

They shared the above insights and more - read our full write up on the CBI website.

Photos by A-PAD SL.

Procurement isn't sexy, but it can offer life-changing opportunities. That's why Türk İş Dünyası Konfederasyonu (a CBI M...
25/11/2025

Procurement isn't sexy, but it can offer life-changing opportunities.

That's why Türk İş Dünyası Konfederasyonu (a CBI Member Network) and some of their partners were just presenting insights and lessons learned at the United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights earlier this week.

Some food for thought:

📊 Assumptions aren't good enough. You need a data-driven understanding of supply chain visibility.

📍 Gender-responsive supply chains require systematic mapping, identifying concrete opportunities, and understanding the real challenges preventing women-owned businesses from accessing procurement opportunities.

🤝 It's not just about high quality low price. You have to actively make participation accessible.

Read our full write-up here ▶️ https://bit.ly/43SCvjj

Thank you for the work you do and for sharing your experience too, Yasemin Açık Vakfi & Yıldız Holding!

"For first responders, communication is oxygen. Earthquakes, hurricanes, and landslides can cripple traditional networks...
18/11/2025

"For first responders, communication is oxygen. Earthquakes, hurricanes, and landslides can cripple traditional networks within minutes, isolating entire communities and leaving rescue teams without critical information. Satellite technology removes that vulnerability."

We're very proud of our partner in Guatemala, CACIF Guatemala, who announced yesterday a partnership with the Coordinadora Nacional para la Reducción de Desastres (Conred) and SpaceX whereby 56 Starlink satellite communication devices will be donated, coded, and strategically deployed to guarantee nationwide coverage during emergencies.

The result: faster coordination, real-time situational awareness, and life-saving decisions made with precision when every second counts.

🚨The Philippines is currently facing back-to-back emergencies.After two tropical cyclones and two earthquakes a few week...
12/11/2025

🚨The Philippines is currently facing back-to-back emergencies.

After two tropical cyclones and two earthquakes a few weeks ago, Typhoon Kalmaegi (locally known as Tino) devastated communities just days ago, followed by Super Typhoon Fung-Wong (locally known as Uwan) with winds of 185km/h and gusts reaching 230km/h.

While damage is less severe than initially feared, numerous communities remain cut off by floods.

The Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF), a CBI Member Network, has its Emergency Operations Center on alert. They are mobilizing their 70+ member companies and coordinating efforts with the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and local government units to reach affected families efficiently.

To complement national response operations, PDRF deployed a team to Aurora Province, one of the areas hardest hit by Typhoon Fung-Wong.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in 2012, one of the CBI Team members was "sheltering in place" with friends in New Y...
07/11/2025

In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in 2012, one of the CBI Team members was "sheltering in place" with friends in New York City. They had all stocked up on food, water, and batteries for flashlights, but when the power went out, only two of the four people in that apartment had thought to COOK the food ahead of time (a surprisingly easy oversight).

This issue of stocking up on food in preparation for emergencies, and making it easy so that people and organizations don't have to eat canned beans for days or think of alternate sources of power is exactly what the Barbados Manufacturers Association and partners set out to solve.

The Ration Pack Project provides locally sourced, seasonal meals in cans, ready to eat and full of local flavors. It gives farmers a new market for their produce, and offers a local option for anyone invested in disaster preparedness.

Full story on the CBI webpage.

This month (Oct. 2025), Mexico faced some of its most intense and erratic rainfall in recent years, triggering widesprea...
30/10/2025

This month (Oct. 2025), Mexico faced some of its most intense and erratic rainfall in recent years, triggering widespread flooding across central and Gulf states. Extraordinary volumes of rain, the likes of which hadn't been seen in more than eight decades, met river basins already swollen at the end of the rainy season.

The combination of saturated soils, overflowing rivers, and steep terrain led to flash floods and landslides that swept through urban and rural communities alike.

To date, Cenaced, the CBI Member Network in Mexico, has been working with the government, mobilizing and coordinating private sector support.

They have delivered:

🫘 over 123 tonnes of food

💧 70,000 litres of water

🥛 73,000 litres of milk

📦 13,000 humanitarian aid kits

🍽️ And 13 community kitchens are serving 49,000 hot meals daily, thanks to the mobilisation of local partners.

Beyond food assistance, the network has deployed medical and humanitarian brigades, heavy machinery, and equipment to reopen six key access routes. Donations include water tanks, purification systems, filters, and essential household items. Furthermore, electronic vouchers and direct cash transfers have been distributed to affected families.

More information is available on the CBI website under emergencies, or you can DM us if you want to see if and how you can help.

Photo: Enrique Polito/Medical Impact

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Connecting Business initiative

Connecting Business initiative (CBi) engages the private sector strategically before, during and after emergencies, increasing the scale and effectiveness of the response in a coordinated manner.

While governments maintain the overall responsibility for responding to humanitarian emergencies, local communities and private sector networks also play crucial roles in disaster risk reduction, emergency preparedness, response and recovery. The Connecting Business initiative strengthens and supports those private sector networks.

In the last year seven of the 13 CBi Member Networks responded to 15 emergencies in their respective countries, helping communities to recover quicker.

The Connecting Business initiative was launched at the World Humanitarian Summit in May 2016 and it takes forward the Summit outcomes, as well as the 2030 Development Agenda and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.