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The tsunami - five years later

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In Brief

It is now almost five years since December 2004, when the great tsunami swept across more than a dozen countries in Asia. More than 230, 000 people died across the region. The cost to human life was mainly borne by Indonesia, in Aceh, where perhaps 170, 000 people were swept away. Five years later, the pain is still evident across Aceh. Many thousands of families will forever carry the memory of family members who were lost. The human cost was immense.

There are many lessons to be drawn about disaster relief policies in Asia from the experience of the 2004 tsunami. Below I list eight key lessons that need attention above all others.

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First, the objectives of those involved in the relief effort were disparate. The very large number of different donors involved in the delivery of assistance following the Asian tsunami, as well as other actors such as the media and policy makers, had many differing objectives. The effective delivery of humanitarian emergency relief was one of these objectives, but only one.

Second, the fastest response was usually provided by local communities. The key role that local communities play in providing fast relief needs more recognition; strategies to improve the capacity of local communities to cope in times of disaster should receive high priority.

Third, the overall coordination of the tsunami aid effort was often very difficult. A large number of different agencies was involved. The early establishment of credible national and international agencies with recognized standing can help improve coordination arrangements.

Fourth, responses, and the role played by different actors, varied over time. In planning, it is important to distinguish between the relief, rehabilitation, reconstruction and post-assistance stages.

Fifth, donors often tended to be supply-oriented rather than demand-responsive. Mechanisms are needed to ensure that local communities affected by a natural disaster have adequate opportunities to indicate what they see as their priority needs.

Sixth, the details of arrangements for the provision of international finance were often problematic. The performance of the international donor community sometimes fell below the standards generally expected in the delivery of international aid in terms of speed and scale.

Seventh, Local Dutch Disease effects, reflected in sharp increases in some costs for items in short supply, occurred in some areas after the tsunami. Aid planners should allow for sharp cost increases, particularly in the construction activities, when drawing up assistance programs.

Eighth, assistance following the Asian tsunami was delivered in many different ways. The way in which aid is provided has many implications for, amongst other things, the speed of delivery and effectiveness of the assistance. Donors should consider carefully the best way of providing help; choices include whether the aid should be in cash or in kind, and what form in kind aid might take.

All of these require elaboration and critical comment. Sisira Jayasuriya and I have spent the last six months bringing together a set of studies on the impact of the tsunami, and the large assistance effort that followed the disaster. This book, which will be published in 2010 by Edward Elgar with the support of the ADB Institute in Tokyo, is the first detailed study that we know of about the assistance effort following the tsunami.

This collection of papers on the topic of disaster relief in the Asian region is timely and important for our region given the onset of global climate change and the increase, by association, in the regularity of severe weather events.

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