A recent report from McKinsey & Company has looked into a set of six distinct disaster recovery programs, taken from a period over 75 years, with the goal of identifying what a successful disaster recovery effort should accomplish, and what steps need to be taken to best drive a program toward these goals.
For these goals, the key targets are:
- Avoiding the most harmful outcomes, like a massive increase in poverty or long-term displacement of peoples
- Building resiliency within the area to improve outcomes in response to future disasters
- Using people and resources to efficiently rebuild physical and economic infrastructure
As for how to best drive toward these goals, the study focused on:
- Agreeing on an overall vision, and establishing clear priorities
- Establishing a strong local institution to help coordinate response and recovery
- Work to support and coordinate collaboration between internal and external partners
Even with these recommendations, the report still notes that recoveries can be long and arduous, and the disruptions from the disasters can have severe effects on local populations, so even a successful response doesn’t mean an absence of suffering. However, consideration of the above can help minimize those challenges, and get people back on their feet more rapidly.
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