1. Session 1 World Bank Institute Ricardo Zapata Marti UN ECLAC
Introduction to damage and needs assessment methodology and basic concepts
Session 1 World Bank Institute Ricardo Zapata Marti
UN ECLAC
Damage and Reconstruction Needs Assessment 1 1

2. Purposes of disaster valuation
Serve as a means to mobilize external cooperation, assistance and loans
Become a tool in policy formulation and post-disaster resource allocation
Become a tool in long-term risk mitigation strategy setting
Determine needs for reconstruction and mitigation
Create historical record
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3. Information needs of disaster valuation
Type:
Contribution of analysts in all sectors of the economy, as well as social scientists
Geographically specific information
Final analysis must have both disaggregated and national accounting versions
Sources:
Ex ante data (pre-existing conditions, baselines)
Ex-post data (on the basis of numerous sources and estimates from the affected population to economic, social and environmental effects. Can be both primary and second-hand.)
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4. Disasters: framework for valuation
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5. Damage and Reconstruction Needs Assessment
Vulnerability
Exposure to risks given the existing institutional and socioeconomic situation, manifested in:
Marginalization,
Informal housing and economy,
Poverty,
Conditions in human settlements and the situation of productive activities (primary, industrial, tertiary or services); their linkage internally and with the environment.
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6. Damage and Reconstruction Needs Assessment
Phases in a disaster
The disaster cycle:
Emergency
Rehabilitation
Reconstruction
Prevention and Mitigation
Alert and Preparation
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7. The disaster cycle and needs assessment
Emergency
In the immediate aftermath, priority is to save lives
Assessment efforts can begin: affected population, deaths, wounded, missing, direct damages to property and infrastructure, both public and private.
Rehabilitation
Priority is to return activities in the affected area to normal.
Assessment of direct and indirect damages can begin, and an appraisal should be initiated of secondary effects.
Reconstruction
Priority is to implement mitigation so that pre-disaster vulnerability is not rebuilt.
Ex: construction projects modify pre-existing infrastructure and environmental conditions that led to damage by the disaster.
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8. Connecting the cycle: link between needs assessment and mitigation
Mitigation measures rely on specific information provided by the needs assessment
Mitigation includes:
Allocating resources toward institutional, organizational and structural measures
Training and organization, including at the community level
Devising early warning systems
Ownership of actions is fundamental to build trust
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9. Timeliness and accuracy of valuation
“Window of need” = “Window of opportunity”
Timely response to needs
Valuation must aim to reduce disaster impact and avoid reconstruction of preexisting vulnerability
Assessment must be done in time to mobilize necessary internal and / or external resources to help
Accuracy
Valuation must aim to ensure comparability and methodological consistency, and
To be acceptable by technical standards
Judgment calls, assumptions and indirect calculations are necessary
The acceptable margin of error is 10-12%
Valuation must nonetheless be accurate enough to attract investment and projects
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10. Disaster valuation concepts
Direct damages
Impact on assets
Infrastructure
Capital
Stocks
Occur immediately during or after the phenomenon that caused the disaster
Indirect damages
Effects on flows
Production
Reduced income and increased expenses
Are perceived after the phenomenon, for a time-period that can last from weeks to months, till recuperation occurs
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11. Sector by sector valuation methodology
Social Sectors
Housing
Health
Education, culture, sports
Infrastructure
Transport and communications
Energy
Water and sewerage
Productive sectors
Goods: agriculture, industry
Services: commerce, tourism, etc.
Global impact
On the environment
Gender perspective
Employment and social conditions
Macroeconomic assessment
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12. Damage and Reconstruction Needs Assessment
Social sector
Each social group’s degree of vulnerability to a natural disaster is different, and the severity of negative impact of natural disasters is as directly related to social inequalities and deprivations as to the natural hazard itself.
A Social Impact Assessment (SIA) can be crucial in determining:
What mitigation is necessary
What mitigation alternatives exist
Which mitigation strategies are most likely to work
Accurate assessments of impacts should pay attention to gendered differentials and must be based on sound pre-existing socio-demographic data
Damage and Reconstruction Needs Assessment

13. Dynamic global effects
Macroeconomic effects:
Repercussions on the national or regional economy after disaster
The duration of repercussions depending on the characteristics and magnitude of disaster
The effects are reflected by:
Gross Domestic Product growth
Performance of the external sector
Evolution of public finance
Increases of prices and inflation
Damage and Reconstruction Needs Assessment

14. Disaster risk reduction
Internal policies:
Include vulnerability reduction as an objective of development plans alongside goals of:
Competitive growth
Equitable development
Sustainable and sustained development
Social participation
External policies:
Introduce risk management as part of the regional/international agenda, alongside:
External competitive insertion
Benefiting from the globalization process
Inclusive regional insertion
Damage and Reconstruction Needs Assessment

15. Disaster risk reduction
Sectoral components:
Monitoring, analysis and climate forecasting, including at the local level
Contingency plans in key sectors, for example:
Agriculture, cattle raising,
Rural poverty,
Energy and baselines
Water and health
Interconnected systems
Regulation of basic services with sponsorship of private enterprise
Focused plans for vulnerable groups, including for employment, food availability and nutrition
Education to reduce vulnerability
Damage and Reconstruction Needs Assessment