The regional perspective
Recovery refers to those programmes which go beyond the provision of immediate relief to assist those who have suffered the full impact of a disaster to rebuild their homes, lives and services and to strengthen their capacity to cope with future disasters.
Following a disaster, life-saving assistance is the most urgent need. The rapid provision of food, water, shelter and medical care is vital to prevent further loss of life and alleviate suffering. However, practical experience, backed by research, supports the view that even at this stage, relief must be conducted with a thought to the affected community’s longer-term benefit and certainly should not be prejudicial to it. And as communities begin to get back on their feet and rebuild their lives, aid agencies need to help strengthen their resilience to future hazards. Just restoring the pre-disaster status quo may inadvertently perpetuate vulnerability. Likewise, development programmes need to take into account existing risks and susceptibility to hazards and to incorporate elements to reduce them. The two approaches are interdependent, complementary and mutually supportive.
Key Definitions
Early recovery is the process of people’s lives returning to normal in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. It involves providing assistance to people in the earliest stages of disaster response in conjunction with the provision of relief, improving the effects of the relief and providing the basis for longer-term recovery. Early recovery enables people to participate more readily in longer-term recovery activities.
Source: IFRC Recovery programming guidance 2012, p.15
Recovery, in the context of disaster response, is a process that results in people’s lives returning to normal in such a way that they will be more resilient to future disasters. The extent to which people can recover after a disaster depends on the situation beforehand and how robust or resilient their resources are to withstand the effects of the disaster. For some, recovery will be relatively quick, while for others it may take years.
Source: IFRC Recovery programming guidance 2012, p. 17
Recovery programming builds on the affected people’s immediate efforts to cope, recover and rebuild. It starts early, alongside relief, seeking to assist people at the peak of the crisis and continues into the mid-term to build greater resilience. Recovery programming includes well-linked actions to protect and restore livelihoods, enhance food security and a wide range of other actions such as community and public health, temporary and longer-term shelter provision, protection and psychosocial support. These activities are undertaken in a way that reduces dependency, mitigates conflict and works towards meeting longer-term risk reduction objectives.
Source: The Red Cross Red Crescent Approach to Disaster Management, Position Paper (2011)
Rehabilitation and reconstruction are activities involving the repair and rebuilding of assets. Assets include physical infrastructure such as roads, transport services, utility supplies, public buildings, markets, and housing. These activities may involve minor repairs, infrastructure restoration or major rebuilding and may be undertaken by individuals (repairing their own properties) or by others such as contractors or locally trained artisans.
Source: IFRC Guidelines for Livelihoods Programming (2011). p.18
Disaster Recovery related online courses available on IFRC Learning Platform are:
e-mail: Mr. Hung Ha Nguyen, at hungha.nguyen@ifrc.org
Related videos
Guiding documents
IFRC Recovery Programming Guidance 2012
The guidance aims to strengthen the results of disaster response by promoting a common approach to recovery amongst National Societies and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). It is hoped that this will strengthen programme quality. The desired result is that communities will be enabled to build more resilient lives as quickly as possible after disaster and crisis.
Summary of the IFRC Recovery programming guidance 2012
This is a summary overview of what is in the IFRC Recovery programming guidance, 2012. It has been designed for use primarily by managers, decision makers and senior practitioners, including National Society and IFRC personnel who may have had limited experience of recovery but who wish to consider this more actively in disaster response. It aims to promote a common approach to recovery amongst National Societies and IFRC in order to strengthen programme quality in enabling communities to build more resilience as quickly as possible after disasters and crises.
Recovery Programming: building back better and enhancing resilience
The powerpoint presentation was delivered in ASEAN Centre of Excellence (ACE) Programme in 2015, to the members of National Disaster Management Offices of ASEAN State members. The presentation aims to explain about recovery programming by:
Describing the concepts and key strategic issues of recovery.
Highlighting recovery examples from Indonesia and discuss other examples in the South East Asia.
Presenting tools for developing operational strategies and designing recovery interventions.
Livelihood Awareness
The powerpoint presentation was delivered in AHA Center of Excellence (ACE) Programme in 2015, to the members of National Disaster Management Offices of ASEAN State members. AHA Center stands for ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance.
The powerpoint covers the basics of livelihoods: the definition, livelihoods assets and resources, programmes, strategies, outcomes and framework.
Guidelines for Cash Transfer Programming
The guidelines are designed to be used following a rapid assessment and to support programmes at any point of the disaster cycle. It, firstly, aims at helping to decide whether a cash programme is an appropriate response. Secondly, if a cash transfer is deemed appropriate, it provides practical, step-by-step guidance about how to design and implement a cash programme.
What is a shelter?
The powerpoint presentation was delivered in AHA Center of Excellence (ACE) Programme in 2015, to the members of National Disaster Management Offices of ASEAN State members. AHA Center stands for ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance.
The presentation covers shelter definition, things to consider, shelter cluster: coordination, challenges, functions, roles, activities.
- IFRC’s Recovery Programming Guidance 2012
- IFRC’s Recovery Programming Guidance 2012 – Summary
- Recovery Programming: Building back better and enhancing resilience (a powerpoint presentation)
- Livelihoods Awareness (a powerpoint presentation) – Click for more information on Livelihoods and cash transfer programming
- Guidelines for Cash Transfer Programming
- What is a shelter? (a powerpoint presentation)
Disaster Recovery Toolkit: Handbook for Disaster Recovery Practitioners
The ‘Toolkit’ is targeted at practitioners responsible for implementing recovery programmes, their objective to provide a ‘how to’ guide on development, implementing and managing complex post-disaster recovery programmes. It has been developed by the Tsunami Global Lessons Learned Project Steering Committee (TGLLP-SC) in partnership with the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC).
Disaster Recovery Toolkit: Training Manual – Learning Workshop on Recovery and Reconstruction
The ‘Toolkit’ is targeted at practitioners responsible for implementing recovery programmes, their objective to provide a ‘how to’ guide on development, implementing and managing complex post-disaster recovery programmes. It has been developed by the Tsunami Global Lessons Learned Project Steering Committee (TGLLP-SC) in partnership with the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC).
Disaster Recovery Toolkit: Guidance on Livelihood
The ‘Toolkit’ is targeted at practitioners responsible for implementing recovery programmes, their objective to provide a ‘how to’ guide on development, implementing and managing complex post-disaster recovery programmes. It has been developed by the Tsunami Global Lessons Learned Project Steering Committee (TGLLP-SC) in partnership with the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC).
Disaster Recovery Toolkit: Guidance on Housing
The ‘Toolkit’ is targeted at practitioners responsible for implementing recovery programmes, their objective to provide a ‘how to’ guide on development, implementing and managing complex post-disaster recovery programmes. It has been developed by the Tsunami Global Lessons Learned Project Steering Committee (TGLLP-SC) in partnership with the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC).
Disaster Recovery Toolkit: Guidance on Land Use Planning
The ‘Toolkit’ is targeted at practitioners responsible for implementing recovery programmes, their objective to provide a ‘how to’ guide on development, implementing and managing complex post-disaster recovery programmes. It has been developed by the Tsunami Global Lessons Learned Project Steering Committee (TGLLP-SC) in partnership with the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC).
Disaster Recovery Toolkit: Guidance on Critical Facilities
The ‘Toolkit’ is targeted at practitioners responsible for implementing recovery programmes, their objective to provide a ‘how to’ guide on development, implementing and managing complex post-disaster recovery programmes. It has been developed by the Tsunami Global Lessons Learned Project Steering Committee (TGLLP-SC) in partnership with the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC).