May 2015: The Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) has published a report that: documents the challenges and progress made globally in integrating disaster risk reduction (DRR) measures into post-disaster recovery and rehabilitation; and recommends policies for strengthening disaster recovery systems to enable countries to protect their development gains.

The report, titled ‘Resilient Recovery: An Imperative for Sustainable Development: The Way Forward for Strengthening Recovery Systems and Integrating Disaster Risk Reduction into Post-Disaster Recovery,’ was undertaken to support the Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction 2015. The Global Assessment, which is published every two years, monitors and spotlights progress, trends and challenges in DRR. It documents progress made and challenges faced by the 168 signatory countries working to implement the 2005 Hyogo Framework of Action (HFA).

The report includes chapters on: progress, challenges and achievements toward resilient recovery; four stages of integrating DRR into the recovery process; policy challenges and successful practices for building post-disaster resilience; and furthering resilient recovery.

The report’s findings and recommendations are based on analyses of recovery experiences drawn from such sources as: Regional Hyogo Framework for Action Monitors from Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), and Europe; HFA country reports from Barbados, Indonesia and Italy; input papers from Australia, Central America, India, Indonesia, the Kyrgyz Republic and Pakistan; knowledge notes from Japan; and nine field-based case studies and four desk-based studies.

Some of the technical input papers, included in the report, address, inter alia: disaster as an opportunity, and building back better in Aceh, Myanmar and Haiti; building back better to reduce risks following multiple disaster events; institutionalizing a Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) system and recovery planning in the Kyrgyz Republic; post-disaster recovery as a tool for sustainable development; pre-disaster recovery planning in Central America; and a case study of risk-sensitive disaster recovery and rehabilitation in Gujarat, India.

The report contends that to successfully integrate DRR measures into recovery processes, countries: must strengthen recovery systems (sometimes referred to as the “institutionalization” of recovery); and develop national recovery frameworks in an anticipatory manner. To this end, the GFDRR has developed a strategic approach to ensure that governments have the capacity to “recover from disasters before they strike.” This approach is comprised of five areas that will help strengthen disaster recovery, including: improving national and local capacities for recovery assessment and planning; strengthening central policy frameworks and sector strategies for recovery; strengthening institutional recovery frameworks; strengthening financial systems for recovery; and implementing performance management systems for recovery.

The GFDRR is a global partnership, managed by the World Bank and funded by 25 donor partners, to help high-risk, low-capacity developing countries better understand and reduce their vulnerabilities to natural hazards and adapt to climate change. [Publication Webpage] [Publication: Resilient Recovery: An Imperative for Sustainable Development] [Publication: Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction 2015]