Building National Resilience

Building preparedness for risks that may threaten national security, economic prosperity, and societal wellbeing is a critical function of government. And the need for effective arrangements at the heart of government has rarely been as evident as it is now.

The COVID-19 crisis is forcing countries across the globe to grapple with emergency healthcare provision, challenging citizen behaviors, widespread industry disruption, and broader economic consequences. This has stretched all dimensions of national risk and crisis management arrangements, including risk assessment, policy response evaluation, leadership decision-making, public communication, financial support interventions, and the coordinated implementation of initiatives.

While for many countries this may represent one of the most acute challenges of the twenty-first century, today’s more complex risk environment (with challenges ranging from cyber to climate) is already putting traditional national risk governance approaches under considerable pressure, demanding new behaviors, interactions, and solutions.

This report from Marsh & McLennan Advantage:

• Suggests how to frame the evolving macro-level risk landscape in a way that helps allocate resources to the most material concerns
• Reviews options for organizing and coordinating risk management activities within government
• Explores some of the key policy levers, finance mechanisms, and innovations to secure desired outcomes
• Examines opportunities for continuous improvement and explores the value of an overall “risk champion” within government