The Ukrainian government will hold talks with the World Bank and the IMF on Wednesday evening about rebuilding the country. “Peace would obviously help a lot, but you can’t wait to start planning,” says Thea Hilhorst, professor of humanitarian aid and reconstruction at Erasmus University.
Indeed, reconstruction is constantly being done in Ukraine, says Hilhorst. ‘When shots are fired, repairs follow almost immediately after. This often involves emergency solutions, for example to ensure that the electricity grid is working again.’
But real reconstruction to rebuild areas that have suffered a lot of damage is a completely different endeavor. A long breath. This is now under discussion with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
“You really can’t wait for peace to start this process,” says the professor. ‘Reconstruction is a very complicated process. Though peace is, of course, the requirement to really get started.’
I have no idea where it ends
Furthermore, the fact that the war is still ongoing makes it virtually impossible to estimate the extent of the damage suffered. “At the moment you don’t know where it will end up and how much it will cost you.”
‘What you sometimes see during reconstruction is that delegations from all over the world come up with proposals of all kinds’
Hilhorst stresses that it is important for reconstruction to let Ukraine chart its own direction and determine what knowledge it needs for this. ‘What you sometimes see during reconstruction is that delegations from all over the world come up with all kinds of proposals. As a result, drivers can no longer see the wood for trees. Reconstruction really needs to be ‘demand-driven’ by the country itself.’
Source: BNR
Sharon Rock is an author and journalist who writes for 24 News Globe. She has a passion for learning about different cultures and understanding the complexities of the world. With a talent for explaining complex global issues in an accessible and engaging way, Sharon has become a respected voice in the field of world news journalism.
