Network Paper 43: Housing Reconstruction After Conflict and Disaster

Author(s)

Barakat, S.

Publication language

English

Pages

46pp

Date published

01 Dec 2003

Type

Research, reports and studies

Keywords

Capacity development, Local capacity, Shelter and housing, Targeting, Identification and Profiling

Organisations

This paper argues that housing reconstruction should be a

more prominent element in post-conflict and post-disaster

programming than is currently the case. There is no

agency devoted to housing reconstruction, and very few of

the major NGOs working in relief would claim to specialise

here. Where reconstruction programmes are attempted,

the particular challenges that they pose tend to be underestimated;

planning is often poor and coordination

between agencies difficult. Opportunities to enhance postdisaster

recovery efforts or introduce mitigation measures

are usually overlooked, and little or no distinction is made

between the provision of physical shelters and the provision

of homes. Lack of experience leads to assessments

that do not provide the relevant information, and projects

that are impractical and appropriate neither to what beneficiaries

need, nor to what they want. As a result, reconstruction

projects are often unsustainable: at best, houses

are remodelled by their occupants; at worst, they are

simply rejected and abandoned.

ALNAP