This Guide provides a set of tools to assess existing structures and capacities of national, district and local institutions with responsibilities for Disaster Risk Management (DRM) in order to improve the effectiveness of DRM systems and the integration of DRM concerns into development planning, with particular reference to disaster-prone areas and vulnerable sectors and population groups. The Guide focuses on risks associated with natural hazards of hydro-meteorological (floods, tropical storms, droughts) and geological (earthquake, tsunami, volcanic activity) origin. Users interested in the management of other types of hazard risk are encouraged to adapt the general concepts, tools and methods to their own situations.