Policy Note on Recovery, Reconstruction and Shelter, for Shelter Actors – DRAFT
This Policy Note is part of the group of tools produced by the Global Shelter Cluster
Working Group on Shelter and Recovery, to support best practice in Shelter, Recovery
and Reconstruction after disaster. This policy note builds upon other documents produced
for the Working Group on Shelter and Recovery, notably the ‘Definitions of Shelter,
Recovery and Reconstruction’ document, as well as building upon the work done in
recent reports and guidance documents by other practitioners.
This policy note is divided into five sections:





Introduction and Summary of Needs for a Policy Document
Policy Principles for Best Practice in Shelter, Recovery and Reconstruction
Stakeholders and Coordination for Recovery and Reconstruction in Shelter
Programming
Initial-Stage Activities and Approaches for Supporting and Facilitating
Recovery and Reconstruction Efforts
References and Resources
Section 1. Introduction and Summary of Needs for a Policy Document
The Global Shelter Cluster Shelter and Recovery Working Group has recognised the
‘need to better understand reconstruction processes, stakeholders and technical issues in
the early stages of a response to allow for comprehensive and relevant strategy
development, planning and implementation of sheltering options,’ in order to ‘address the
key challenges of interconnectedness through different phases of the disaster
management cycle.’1
Experience in recent disaster responses has highlighted the gaps in strategy and policy
guidance needed to ensure that limited resources are used to the best effect, to kick-start
recovery from the earliest possible moment during Shelter programming. Furthermore,
there is the need to ensure that there is a continuum of support throughout the entire
process from emergency to recovery, and not just during the first weeks or months, when
an emergency has a higher media profile. This continuum of support may need to
continue over the lifetimes of different Clusters or other coordination forums, and to have
clear strategic connections with national-government development policies, once there
are no further humanitarian needs.
There is a continued need firstly to advocate and mainstream recovery approaches in the
Cluster members' programming and ensure that programmes have a longer view and
“Rough Inputs for the Shelter and Recovery Working Group Objectives”, Global Shelter Cluster internal
document, 2013.
1
impact, by linking their emergency efforts to more sustainable development goals. The
second objective of a Shelter and Recovery policy, is to make sure that when emergency
efforts are being scaled down, there are still the offices and people in place to ensure that
the data (often of large volume), information, initiatives, programming, funding, and
groupings of actors, have a continuation of support until the affected population (and a
re-capacitated government) recover their capacity to stand by themselves. The lynchpin
of this Shelter and Recovery policy is that it should work in both ways, influencing
organisations in looking at the longer term, as well as anchoring these initiatives into
more permanent or established structures.
Section 2. Policy Principles for Best Practice in Shelter, Recovery and
Reconstruction
This list of key policy principles to be applied by the Shelter Cluster and its partners, for
supporting Recovery and Reconstruction, is taken from lists provided through other
guidance documents, and ongoing work and discussions with practitioners. The list is
focused in two ways: Firstly, the principles contained in the list are specific to policy
concerns for Shelter, Recovery and Reconstruction, and as such do not include key
principles for all humanitarian programming (e.g. “Do No Harm”) which may be found
widely in numerous other guidance tools. Secondly, whilst the list does refer to technicaldesign or engineering issues from a policy perspective, it does not offer detailed technical
guidance. Those seeking such guidance should consult the relevant technical resources
provided on-line by the Shelter Cluster, and by many individual Shelter Cluster partners.
This list draws heavily upon (and in some cases quotes or abbreviates) recent work by Ian
Davis, Shelter Center, UN-Habitat, Habitat for Humanity, and the Cluster Working
Group on Early Recovery (see the list of resources in the last section of this document).
1. Reconstruction begins on Day 1, the day of the disaster, started by the first
responders, the affected communities themselves. The actions towards Recovery
and Reconstruction undertaken by those communities are a process, and often
incremental in nature. Any support given to those communities by humanitarian
shelter actors, should then be on the same basis.
2. Ground early recovery interventions on a thorough understanding of the context
and build on and/or reorient ongoing development initiatives to ensure they
contribute to building resilience and capacity in affected communities.
3. A recovery strategy strengthens the livelihoods of survivors and builds the
community’s economic base. A good reconstruction policy helps reactivate
communities and empowers people to rebuild their housing, their lives, and their
livelihoods. Community members should be partners in policy-making and the
leaders of local implementation, so use and promote participatory practices, and
support the affected population in making informed choices.
4. Humanitarian organisations should ensure national ownership of the early
recovery process through the fullest possible engagement of national and local
authorities in the planning, execution, and monitoring of recovery actions. By
doing so, they may build capacity, and also strengthen accountability systems so
that the population can hold governments, local authorities, and their international
donors to account in the implementation. Government offices should adapt to
create a structure which is organizationally effective, can make full capacity of
the resources available for Recovery and Reconstruction, and which can provide
strategic direction for those activities.
5. Reconstruction policies and plans should be financially realistic but ambitious
with respect to disaster risk reduction, and the multiplier-effects possible in an
effective programme for ‘build back safer’. Clusters and humanitarian
organisations should advocate for funding to cover all phases of Recovery, and to
bridge any gaps between emergency response and permanent reconstruction. At
the same time, implementation approaches which support the greatest number of
the population in a cost-effective manner should be prioritised.
6. Civil society and the private sector are important parts of the solution, and should
be included strategically in humanitarian support, and in the coordination of that
support. In some cases, humanitarian organisations may need to take an active
role in developing constructive and inclusive working relationships between civil
society organisations and government institutions.
7. Reconstruction must be sustainable, and this means ensuring that vulnerability to
disasters is not rebuilt. Designs and location-siting must include risk reduction
and/or conflict prevention measures. These measures must be undertaken not only
for individual dwellings, but for settlements, neighbourhoods and cities. This need
is high in urban or peri-urban areas where the scale of the disaster is often caused
by informal settlements in hazard-prone locations. Ensure that technical assistance
complements rather than replaces existing capacities, and is seen by national
actors as supportive rather than directive in the construction of adaptable,
climatically and culturally appropriate shelter, settlements, housing and
neighbourhoods.
8. Promote equality and support settlement and reconstruction for all those affected.
Ensure that any Shelter or Reconstruction programming is not biased towards
only those who already have some degree of security of tenure, but takes into full
consideration those whose vulnerability includes lack of access to land. Aim to
ensure that land and property tenure issues are resolved with all stakeholders.
9. Assessment and monitoring can improve reconstruction outcomes. Maintain a
continuous assessment of risk, damage, needs and resources, built into seasonal
cycles, and any seasonal variations in construction capacity or other variations in
available resources.
10. Reconstruction strategies should be integrated into regional and urban masterplanning, with Shelter and reconstruction efforts guided the same. Relocation
disrupts lives and should be minimised – avoid relocation or resettlement, unless
it is essential for reasons of safety, and minimise duration and distance, when
displacement is essential
11. Undertake contingency planning, and recognise that in countries with short cycles
of natural disasters, contingency-planning and disaster-risk-management should
be centrally integrated into the Recovery process.
12. Ensure integration of other cross-cutting issues such as gender, environment,
security, human rights, and HIV/AIDS in assessment, planning, and
implementation.
Section 3. Coordination for Recovery and Reconstruction in Shelter Programming
Ensuring that local stakeholders are the focus and the drivers of Recovery must be based
on the following key principles. Some of these principles are universal principles for a
successful policy of coordination, but all are essential for support to a successful
Recovery:







Decentralise – to the degree appropriate, ensure that coordination, decisionmaking and information sharing is conducted at the local level.
Take the discussion to the actors – don’t expect that all stakeholders can or will
come to a discussion: in many cases, discussions can be more effectively brought
to local stakeholders’ own forums, whether they be for local communities, local
NGOs or local municipalities.
Ensure space for all voices to be heard – work in awareness of local culture, to
ensure that the voices of those who may be marginalised, because of their gender,
ethnic grouping, or because they are landless, are still included in informationsharing and decision-making.
Make the language a means of communication, not a barrier – take the
responsibility of facilitating translation or local-language discussions, and work
with local actors to use graphics or other forms of media for key messages.
No sectoral silos – Recovery in communities does not split into sectors, and
particularly at the neighbourhood level, partnering for a more holistic approach
will better reflect the full range of priorities amongst disaster-affected households.
No out-of-bounds topics – ‘Shelter’ discussions should never dismiss participants’
wishes to also discuss reconstruction, urban planning, water supply, or any other
relevant topic, just because those topics fall outside of the mandate of the
humanitarian organisations present.
Act as the vertical messenger and the vertical introducer – Humanitarian
organisations have the unique position in disaster responses, of being able to
make the links between different groups, including from the national (or
international) to the local.
Section 4. Initial-Stage Activities and Approaches for Supporting and Facilitating
Recovery and Reconstruction Efforts
In all post-disaster settings, it is the disaster-affected population themselves who are the
first responders, and the first to engage in reconstruction efforts, and in the majority of
the cases the only ones to engage directly in the reconstruction of their own homes. In
order to support this process, a number of approaches can be undertaken by other actors.
Often, it is the ability to consider the bigger picture, and approach Recovery at a
settlements- or city-wide level, and the ability to marshal external resources, which
becomes the added value to individual-household efforts, brought by the humanitarian
sector.
Needless to say, not all approaches may be appropriate for all post-disaster situations, and
practitioners will have to judge which ones may have the most positive effects in any
specific response: in most cases a strategic combination of a selection of the activities
listed below would offer the best approach. In all cases though, the activities and
approaches listed below must be guided by the overarching principles of being
community-driven and community-focussed.
In the Shelter-sector guidance document Urban Shelter Guidelines (2010), there are listed
18 possible types of responses, all of which may play some role in the Recovery process,
if done correctly, and if combined strategically with other activities. The following
activities and approaches are those that are not mainly concerned with the distribution of
relief items, and they make clear demonstration of the variety of ways in which initial
activities and approaches can have a positive affect upon the Recovery process:
1. Infrastructure and settlement planning support – In the first phases of response,
infrastructure and settlement planning support can take a variety of forms, all of
which have shown to be key to Recovery, from rubble-removal to repair and
installation of water supply to facilitate a return to original neighbourhoods, to the
planning of transitional or permanent new settlements.
2. Environmental and resource management – A Recovery cannot be successful, if
the process has resulted in the destruction of environmental or other resources, or
the construction of settlements in environmentally hazardous areas.
3. Supervision and technical expertise – The provision of technical expertise or
knowledge-transfer during the construction of shelters or housing is a key area
with multiplier-effects, providing skills which may be used later in further
construction, or upgrading of housing.
4. Legal and administrative expertise – In a number of recent high-profile
emergencies, the key barriers to Recovery have included the lack of civil
documentation, or the lack of access to land or security of tenure. The early
establishment of activities to support disaster-affected communities with legal
counseling or assistance can provide some remedy to this.
5. Information centres and teams – A highly effective way of reaching not just those
who have lost housing in a disaster, but all those in the community with needs for
information or training on hazard-resistant construction, the construction of
community infrastructure, or legal and administrative processes, is through the
use of information centers and / or information teams.
6. Capacity-building and training – There is a wide range of ways in which
capacity-building and training can be undertaken, starting with the staff and
partners of the humanitarian organisations. But the most enduring of approaches
are those which engage in capacity-building and training for national and local
government and civil society, who will have the long-term responsibility for
development goals and strategies once the humanitarian response is complete.
7. Labour – Whether the labour is provided through community mobilisation, or
through contracting, the added stimuli to the local economy, the psychological
benefits from being involved in the reconstruction work, and the actual
deployment of manpower in critical activities (such as rubble-removal) mean that
this sort of activity can have a number of positive benefits for Recovery.
Particularly in an urban setting though, care needs to be taken to ensure that
people are not being taken away from their longer-term livelihoods, by short-term
humanitarian projects.
8. Cash or Vouchers – The flexibility of use of cash or vouchers not only allows
each household to prioritise their own Shelter and Recovery needs, but also
ensures a maximum possible stimulation of the local economy. The use of this
approach also ensures that for those with the resources to start permanent
reconstruction early, support is immediately available.
9. Loans and credit – Whilst household loans programmes tend to be undertaken
more in the long-term development context, recent examples of credit given to
families in post-disaster situations include rental and housing support, thus
ensuring that the families have adequate shelter without incurring whilst being
able to manage their debt in a sustainable manner, so that personal resources can
be used to the greatest extent possible upon reconstruction and livelihood
reconstitution.
10. Insurance and guarantees – Although this approach is not typically taken by
NGOs with a non-permanent presence in the country, there is more and more
awareness in middle-income countries with high risks of natural disasters, that the
sustainable way for a country to manage its exposure to natural disaster through
creating wider accessibility to insurance for housing. Whilst NGOs may not be
the channel for such activities, they can advocate for such programmes to be done
in a responsible manner, and can offer counseling on how to access such
opportunities.
11. Market interventions – Starting with the creation of post-disaster market-analysis
tools, there has been an increasing awareness of the effects which Shelter
programming can have on local markets. Opportunities to make positive market
interventions in the first phases of Shelter programming may include small loans
for workshop equipment, voucher schemes which funnel funds through certain
targeted segments of a market, repair of market places, or low-cost sale of
materials to local retailers.
Section 5. References and Resources
This Policy Note builds on the work done by a number of organisations and authors, and
a more complete list of useful strategy- and policy-level resources is given in the separate
document created by the Working “Group, Shelter Recovery and Reconstruction Key
Resource List”. There are a small number of resources which were particularly helpful
for the drafting of this document though, and whose ideas were central to those contained
here above:
Corsellis, Tom, and Vitale, Antonella. Transitional Settlements and Reconstruction After
Natural Disasters. UNOCHA, 2008.
Davis, Ian. “What Is The Vision For Sheltering And Housing In Haiti? Summary
Observations of Reconstruction Progress following the Haiti Earthquake of January 12th
2010”. UN-Habitat, 2012.
“Guidance Note on Early Recovery”. Cluster Working Group on Early Recovery, 2008.
“Pathways to Permanence”. Habitat for Humanity, 2012.
Suvatne, Martin, and Crawford, Kate. Urban Shelter Guidelines. NRC/Shelter Centre,
2010.