A ripple in development? - Channel Research

no strategic analysis of the interaction of the relief and recovery efforts
with conflict, while some upcoming research projects 20 point to the fact
that, for reasons of international presence and resource handling, it
became a key source of societal tension. It is striking to see how little
analysis has gone into this subject. A recent OECD DAC working group
study on conflict prevention and peace-building in Sri Lanka, for example,
specifically excluded the tsunami response from the analysis.
A similar conclusion can be drawn (although on a much smaller
scale) concerning political dynamics in the Maldives, where the tsunami
created only momentary change. Some donors, such as the Agence
Française de Développement (AFD), even took on a greater development
presence as part of the reconstruction effort after the tsunami,
while others, such as Germany’s GTZ, reconsidered programme to a
much greater extent around conflict than around the tsunami.
The origins of the prevailing social and communal tensions in the
Maldives can be traced back to the pre-tsunami policy of “Island Consolidation”
and the creation of “Population Hubs”, characterised by the
relocation of entire communities from ecologically unsafe islands to the
larger, safer and economically more viable islands. Due to inadequate
information dissemination, this policy has met with resistance from different
cross-sections of the population, people who are reluctant to relocate
either due to a fear of loss of status or from an unwillingness to
leave ancestral lands.
The tsunami recovery effort, in an attempt to align itself with this
policy, has continued with the relocation of tsunami IDPs to newly constructed
housing on the designated islands. This has led in many cases
to instances of ill-feeling towards the incomers by the original communities
of the islands. Today new settlements exist in close proximity to
the original host settlements, which are often poorly serviced and have
housing which is badly in need of upgrading and rehabilitation.
In the Maldives, observers consistently claimed that political rivalry
initially ceased in the two months following the tsunami. Charges against
political detainees that had protested in August 2004 were dropped.
Parliamentary elections scheduled for the end of December were postponed
due to the tsunami but held a month later. Opposition candidates
won seats in Parliament. A reform process, including the development
of a new constitution, criminal justice reform and Human Rights Commission
of the Maldives have since been underway, culminating in the
first multi-party presidential elections in October 2008 and the election
of a former political prisoner as president.
20
Post-Tsunami Reconstruction in Contexts of War: A Grassroots Study of the Geo-Politics of Humanitarian
Aid in Northern and Eastern Sri Lanka & Aceh, Indonesia [IDRC 103614], Dr de Alwis, International
Centre for Ethnic Studies, Colombo. Quoted by Channel Research “Evaluation of IDRC
Peace, Conflict and Development Research in Countries and Regions Affected by Conflict”, Draft,
January 2009, on behalf of IDRC.
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