The Global Disaster Preparedness Center (GDPC) was established by the American Red Cross and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) as a reference center to support innovation and learning in disaster preparedness. As one of 12 reference centers in the international Red Cross Red Crescent network, the GDPC enhances disaster management and preparedness capacities of national societies through a service-oriented and demand-driven approach to building community resilience. The Center provides services in three main areas—Knowledge Management, Research, and Technical Assistance—to build national and community level preparedness, serving as a platform for collaboration among Red Cross Red Crescent national societies and other organizations championing disaster preparedness and resilience at global, national, and community levels.
Why It Matters: Global trends like rapid urbanization and climate change are exacerbating disaster impacts, requiring Red Cross and Red Crescent national societies to develop additional capacity and resources to meet changing needs—and a network-wide reference center can provide tools and learning that individual societies cannot develop alone. By taking a demand-driven approach that responds to what national societies and communities actually need rather than imposing top-down solutions, GDPC ensures its knowledge management, research, and technical assistance serve practical preparedness goals. The collaborative platform model recognizes that building resilience requires connecting diverse stakeholders across the international humanitarian network to share innovations and learning.
