Strategic Risk Assessments and Workforce Mapping

Countries in the Western Pacific use WHO’s Strategic Toolkit for Assessing Risks (STAR) to create an all-hazards risk profile and subsequently map emergency workforce capacities. 

Through the strategic risk profiling exercise, countries utilize evidence, collective experience and expertise from multiple sectors to identify the likelihood and impact of country-specific hazards — and then use this data to prioritize capacity building actions. 

The strategic risk profile thus enables risk-informed emergency preparedness and response, informs strategic and operational planning, and triggers early warnings and actions. Additionally, the development of a strategic risk profile promotes a multisectoral, whole-of-society approach to identifying, preparing for and responding to risks.

WHO’s strategic risk-based approach to emergency management reflects a paradigm shift in managing risks: moving away from reactive, event-based, single-hazard, single-agency and top-down planning — towards a more collaborative, proactive, risk-based, all-hazard, multisectoral and participatory approach.