COVID-19 Recovery: Policy Brief

Since COVID-19 was first recognized in December of 2019, it has spread to almost every country, infected millions of people and killed hundreds of thousands. But this pandemic is much more than a public health crisis. In addition to causing the greatest global economic downturn in almost a century, it is threatening to reverse decades of development gains.

There is a diverse range of recovery needs that extend far beyond that of human health. The wider recovery effort will require multisectoral participation to address a range of issues that are typical of many other disaster types (e.g., infrastructure, education, governance, commerce). Examination of past regional and global disease outbreaks does offer a wealth of information and recovery best practices, but the unprecedented nature of the current disaster mandates consideration of novel approaches.

This brief is offered to define the COVID-19 recovery context and to supplement existing guidance with key principles and practices to guide recovery planning. The audience includes recovery decision makers and policy makers, development organizations, nongovernmental organizations, and corporate and private philanthropy.