Building Back Better: Achieving Resilience through Stronger, Faster, and More Inclusive Post-Disaster Reconstruction
Publisher: The World Bank
Author(s): Stephane Hallegatte, Jun Rentschler, and Brian Walsh
Date: 2018
Topics: Climate Change, Disasters, Economic Recovery, Governance, Humanitarian Assistance, Renewable Resources
Beyond this traditional understanding of building back better, there are many opportunities to improve the recovery and reconstruction phase that follows a disaster, so that wellbeing impacts can be minimized. A faster recovery can ensure that people restore their income and assets as early as possible, making it possible to use their savings to maintain consumption levels. And a more inclusive recovery can ensure that the poorest and the most vulnerable can access the support they need to reconstruct. In the absence of such support, they are the most likely to experience the long-term consequences caused by health issues and disability, loss of schooling and education, or simply the inability to save or borrow to rebuild or replace lost assets. A rapid and more inclusive reconstruction is key to preventing poor people from falling into poverty traps that can magnify the impacts of disasters.
In this study, therefore, building back better means that the repaired or replaced assets are more resilient, but also that the recovery process is shorter and more efficient, and that the entire recovery process does not leave anyone behind—i.e. that even the poorest and most vulnerable receive the support they need to fully recover. The study investigates the potential benefits of building back better, building on the framework and model described in the Unbreakable report, and considering the three dimensions, independently and together.