Recovery Preparedness and Management Director’s Guideline for Civil Defence Emergency Management Groups

This Director’s Guideline is a foundational document of New Zealand’s recovery framework and embed lessons from recoveries over the last ten years. It provides information that Recovery Managers, Civil Defence Emergency Management (CDEM) Groups and local authorities need to understand about recovery, and outlines arrangements to have in place before and after an emergency. This guideline will also be informative for others agencies, organizations and groups involved in preparing for and managing recovery.

Recovery management is about supporting people to rebuild their lives and restore their emotional, social, economic and physical wellbeing. Recovery from emergencies is comprehensive, participatory and inclusive of all peoples and organizations and is founded on talking about priorities, arrangements and desired outcomes before emergencies happen. The importance of being prepared to support and empower communities to recover after an emergency means CDEM Groups need to make recovery preparedness a priority and resource it accordingly prior to an emergency occurring.

This Director’s Guideline is focused at an operational level and links to strategic planning for recovery. This Guideline supersedes the Recovery Management Director’s Guideline for CDEM Groups and the Focus on Recovery: A Holistic Framework for Recovery in New Zealand Information for the CDEM Sector .