Post Disaster Needs Assessments

The increasing frequency and intensity of climate hazards have resulted in a dramatic surge in disasters worldwide, disproportionately affecting vulnerable populations and causing significant economic losses. From 2000 to 2023, Africa alone experienced 1,436 disasters, primarily floods, storms, and droughts. Despite advancements in disaster recovery assessments and the establishment of disaster loss databases, many countries continue to face challenges in effectively collecting, analyzing, and utilizing data. These gaps in detailed and disaggregated data collection hinder informed decision-making and planning for disaster recovery, risk reduction, and climate change adaptation.

Recent frameworks, such as the Sendai Framework Midterm Review and climate loss and damage negotiations, have emphasized the critical need to strengthen national capacities for assessing disaster losses and recovery needs. In response to this need, our session will focus on enhancing stakeholders' understanding of how accurate disaster and climate impact assessments and data can be leveraged to reduce future losses, facilitate building back better (BBB) during the recovery process, protect future development gains, and promote risk-informed planning and recovery efforts.

Over the past two decades, crisis recovery has evolved into a specialized field, with the development of tools designed to aid in this process. In 2008, the UNDG, EU, and World Bank signed a joint declaration to collaborate on post-crisis frameworks. This collaboration resulted in the creation of the Recovery and Peacebuilding Assessment (RPBA) and the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) procedural and technical guidelines, as well as the Disaster Recovery Framework (DRF) guide, officially launched in 2015. These guides are designed to harmonize government-led efforts in estimating recovery needs and implementing strategies after a crisis. To support these efforts, a comprehensive training package for PDNA is available in multiple languages.

During this learning lab, participants will gain a deeper understanding of the PDNA methodology as a tool for assessing and generating disaster loss and damage data, and for identifying recovery needs in specific sectors. Participants will also be able to discuss assessment methodologies, tools, and programs that exist to strengthen the capacities of national institutions in the field of recovery and loss and damage assessments and exchange good practices in disaster and climate-induced loss and damage assessment, as well as the implementation of recovery programs and policies at national and sub-national levels.