The Third SISRI Practitioners’ Network meeting took place in Mexico City from 13-14 May, as a side event of the 2018 Understanding Risk (UR) Forum. This event was funded by the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific-European Union Natural Disaster Risk Reduction Program (ACP-EU NDRR). It brought together 41 government officials from the Pacific, Caribbean and African/Indian Ocean in addition to other experts from the World Bank, the EU, the ACP Secretariat, and other institutions. It was an opportunity to share good practices, innovations, challenges and practical solutions on resilient recovery in the aftermath of disasters, a topic particularly relevant after the recent disasters resulting from Hurricane Irma in Antigua and Barbuda, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Saint Kitts, Hurricane Maria in Dominica and Cyclone Gita in Tonga.

 

The meeting covered a range of topics on resilient recovery divided in seven sessions:

  • Session 1: Post-disaster Assessments (PDNA, DALA, etc.) and Current State of Response in the Caribbean

  • Session 2: Institutions, Governance and Policies for Resilient Recovery (Strengthening Recovery Systems)

  • Session 3: Involvement of Small and Middle-sized Enterprises (SME) in Resilient Recovery

  • Session 4: Build Back Better: Scope and Technical Innovation

  • Session 5: Gender and social inclusion in recovery 

  • Session 6: Social and financial mechanisms and instruments

  • Session 7: Building a comprehensive picture of resilient recovery: The case of the housing sector

 

The key message of the workshop was building back better – rebuilding faster, more inclusively, and stronger – generates large benefits. A faster recovery helps ensure people can resume their daily lives as soon as possible by restoring the affected population’s income and assets as early as possible through accelerated reconstruction. Inclusive recovery warrants the poorest and most vulnerable also access post-disaster support leaving no one behind in the recovery efforts. Building back stronger ensures rebuilt assets can resist more intense events in the future. Building back better is particularly important in small island countries, due to their high current vulnerability and small scale. Recovery and reconstruction, through their phases, provide the opportunity to rebuild beyond pre-disaster standards for safer, more sustainable and resilient communities.