10 Management Lessons for Host Governments Coordinating Post-disaster Reconstruction

This document is intended primarily for host governments that are
facing or preparing for the event of a large-scale disaster. It contains
the ten most important management lessons learned over a period
of four years by BRR, the coordinating agency responsible for the
reconstruction of Aceh and Nias following the 2004 Indian Ocean
tsunami, Indonesia’s greatest natural disaster. The USD 6.7 billion
effort received significant contributions from donor agencies and
private citizens worldwide and involved the efforts of some 900
organizations.

Many aspects of the Aceh–Nias experience were unique:
reconstruction activities were often conducted in conflict areas;
recovery efforts played out against the tense political dynamics
between the central government and the areas affected by disaster;
and reconstruction aid from the international community was
unprecedented – both financially and physically – and the majority of
all reconstruction funds came as aid from the international community.
This unique set of circumstances defined post-disaster Aceh–Nias and
also shaped the policies and strategies adopted by BRR.

Nonetheless, we believe that host governments face a common set
of choices when tackling post-disaster reconstruction, and hence
that what we have learned over the past four years may be valuable
to future governments afflicted by large disasters. These lessons
represent BRR’s best efforts to abstract the management choices that
we believe all host governments face about how they should approach
the role of the coordinating agency. The document discusses the ten
most valuable lessons learned across three different elements of
reconstruction work: organize, execute, and fund, and is based on
BRR’s experience as a coordinating agency.