Review of post disaster recovery needs assessment and methodologies: Experiences from Asia and Latin America

The post disaster recovery needs assessment (PDNA) framework is intended to help coordinate recovery efforts across different sectors and with a risk reduction focus. In this background, the PDNA project was developed in 2005. It is led by the United Nations Development Programme in its capacity as the cluster lead for Early Recovery and as a part of the International Recovery Platform (IRP) and the IASC Cluster Working Group on Early Recovery (CWGER). 

The primary purpose of the PDNA framework will be to provide all actors in a recovery process – including national and local authorities, international agencies, donors and local communities – with a multi-sectoral, technical overview of the damage and loss patterns and the principal recovery needs and priorities to be addressed to help with reconstruction, sustainable development and post-disaster risk reduction. In the run up to developing the PDNA framework, UNDP and ECLAC have commissioned this review of existing and emerging recovery needs assessment methodologies and tools at the international and local levels. The review includes methodologies used by different stakeholders (governments, UN agencies, INGOs, NGOs etc.), especially during recent disasters in Asia and Latin America. This review helps map existing and emerging recovery needs assessment methodologies and analyse experiences, lessons, gaps and trends related to their use and development.