Why is gaining a comprehensive understanding of how to properly manage risk so important for development? The inability to manage risk effectively leads to crises and missed opportunities. As we have seen in the recent years, the world has suffered numerous shocks that reveal how vulnerable people are, especially in developing countries, when risks are not properly managed. The world also witnessed unprecedented economic and technological changes and with these, a host of opportunities have arisen. Confronting risk is also necessary to pursue development opportunities. Too often people do not embark on taking opportunities because they are not adequately prepared for the risks that come with opportunities. This course will give a broad overview of what the process of risk management entails, what the obstacles that often impair risk management are, and how to identify and address them. You will learn about the contributions to risk management from different social and economic systems (households, communities, the enterprises, the financial system, the macroeconomy, and the international community), and your role and responsibility in managing risk. You will hear about up-to-date knowledge and evidence related to risk management in the developing world, and how individuals and institutions can move from being “crisis fighters” to becoming proactive and systematic risk managers. In recent years, the world has suffered numerous shocks that demonstrate how vulnerable people are, especially in developing countries, when systemic risks are not properly managed. Major shocks have included major economic crises, with their associated loss of income and spikes in unemployment, and natural disasters accompanied by large numbers of fatalities and increasing economic losses. Risks specific to individuals, from not finding a job to suffering a family breakup because of forced migration, also increase people’s vulnerability. Significant evidence shows that adverse shocks—above all, health and weather shocks and economic crises—play a major role in pushing households below the poverty line and keeping them there. An overwhelming body of evidence demonstrates that effective and responsible risk management—consisting of preparing before shocks and coping afterward—is an essential tool for development. It saves lives by minimizing or avoiding the effects of natural disasters, disease, or starvation. It prevents and lessens human, social, and physical capital damages and averts developmental setbacks. It can foster opportunities, as it can help people reduce the potential for loss from taking on those risks that accompany development opportunities.