The World Bank is promoting a proactive and strategic approach to managing natural hazard risk în Europe and Central Asia countries, based on a comprehensive framework based on the following five pillars. Risk assessment - includes application of the hazard, exposure, vulnerability, and loss analyses and provides projections of the average annual expected loss and the probable maximum loss from a single catastrophic event. Emergency preparedness. Citizens and government agencies need to be prepared for breakdowns în essential services, to develop plans for contingencies, and to practice implementing the plans. They should be encouraged to make resources available for facilities and equipment, need to provide emergency personnel the training they need, sponsor exercises, and get information out to the public. Investments în risk mitigation. These may include inexpensive investments în increasing institutional capacity, strengthen enforcement of building codes, provide training, and involve communities, including mapping, monitoring and warning systems. As investments în physical infrastructure (flood protection, landslides prevention and retrofitting of housing and/or public buildings for seismic resistance) are very expensive, the selection of the most suitable of them should be carried out by applying cost-benefit or cost-effectiveness analysis. Institutional capacity building. The efficiency and effectiveness of a comprehensive hazard risk management system depends on the knowledge, awareness, and capacity of the stakeholders involved. For that purpose it is recommended the following: (a) create decentralized emergency management systems; (b) ensure community involvement and participation; (c) develop an efficient legal framework; and (d) provide training, education, and knowledge sharing. It is also important to integrate hazard risk management into the economic development process. Emergency planning and risk mitigation needs to be an integral part of the rural and urban development process, with participation by all stakeholders. Develop a catastrophe risk financing strategy. Countries need to develop and introduce targeted risk financing strategies for dealing with catastrophic events that can have a severe impact on their economies. The strategy would address the funding gap caused by the need to recover economic losses and meet social obligations and other responsibilities following a catastrophic event. Developing a risk financing strategy is particularly important for countries exposed to catastrophic earthquakes.