The Overseas Development Institute (ODI) recently published a briefing paper titled ‘Building back better’: a resilient Caribbean after the 2017 hurricanes:

There is no ‘quick fix’ for building resilience in the Caribbean, but disasters do provide a space for reflection, as well as an opportunity for policies and investments that consider future threats.To avoid further human suffering, economic losses, environmental degradation and the reversal of hard-fought development gains, ‘building back better’ must be more than just a slogan. It requires a broad set of policies and investments in housing and infrastructure, economic development and ecosystem protection that are well coordinated, that build on lessons from the past and that manage the tension between short-term imperatives and long-term resilience needs.

This briefing paper has been prepared to help policy-makers and practitioners strengthen recovery in the Caribbean after the 2017 hurricanes. The challenges for promoting a more resilient Caribbean are significant; this will require a comprehensive disaster impact assessment (to understand what was most affected and why), legal and regulatory reforms, a recovery strategy closely linked to existing development and investment plans, and more participatory forms of planning than many of these countries had in place prior to the hurricanes. It will also require more systematic use of hazard information and climate science in planning decisions, to manage future risks.

Visit the ODI website to read more and download the briefing paper.

You can also view/listen to the ODI’s related webinar: Building back better: a resilient Caribbean.

[Image credit: Netherlands Red Cross via IFRC]