DHAKA, BANGLADESH - South Asia, one of the most disaster prone regions of the world, faces disasters at regular intervals that overwhelm the capacity of the countries to respond and recover and 
pose development challenges. The eight South Asian countries currently follow various procedures for assessing the damage and loss caused by the disasters which do not fully capture the entire spectrum of damage and losses and the macro-economic and social impact of disasters. This affects the identification and prioritization of short and medium term needs for socio-economic recovery and restoration of sustainable development. Thus, there is a felt need to review the existing practices and procedures for damage, loss and need assessment in post-disaster situations in the South Asian countries and synthesize a robust and consistent system of Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) based on the global best practices and to ultimately build-back-better and also allow for the regional standards that may be specific to the South Asian context. The SAARC Disaster Management Center (SDMC) is leading the task of harmonizing the damage, loss and needs assessment methodologies of South Asian countries and to develop a regional standard for PDNAs in South Asia.
Approach
During December 2011, SDMC with the support of the Disaster Management Bureau of Government of Bangladesh and the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) organized a five-day workshop facilitated by GFDRR and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on the Development of Regional Standards for PDNAs in South Asia.The workshop included presentations from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Pakistan government counterparts on the respective systems of damage and loss assessments being practiced in their countries; interactive sessions on the Damage and Loss Assessment (DaLA) methodology and Human Recovery Needs Assessment (HRNA) methodologies being supported by the World Bank-GFDRR and UN agencies; and, generated the outlines of an action plan for the development of regional standards for the guidance of South Asian countries to better assess the disaster impacts and better inform the reconstruction and recovery processes.This event brought together 25 representatives from the six governments. Sri Lanka and Maldives could not attend the workshop due to logistical reasons but shall be integral to the development of the regional standards.
Results
The workshop concluded with initiating the action plan for an important regional agreement among the eight South Asian countries – to have a standardized regional Post-Disaster Needs Assessment methodology for the SAARC countries in place for the reconstruction and recovery needs to be addressed at the regional, national, provincial, and local levels and to foster South-South cooperation among the SAARC countries for post-disaster response and preparedness under the overall stewardship of the SAARC Disaster Management Center.
Article and photos courtesy of Swarna Kazi and Prashant Singh. For more information, please contact Christina Irene at cirene@worldbank.org