Sustainable Relief in Post-Crisis Situations. Transforming Disasters into Opportunities for Sustainable Development in Human Settlements

This paper explains that disasters can provide opportunities for sustainable development, through the integration of principles of sustainability from the earliest stages of recovery in human settlements. The paper presents a set of specific strategies from the transitional phase recovery to medium to long-term development, and is divided into the following sections:

- What is sustainable relief in human settlements?
- From disasters towards sustainable settlements
- Guiding principles for sustainable relief in human settlements.

The paper is part of UN-HABITAT's effort to play a stronger humanitarian role by promoting peace building, poverty reduction, disaster mitigation and sustainable development of human settlements.