A ripple in development? - Channel Research

not been sufficiently guided in reconstructing their houses, in particular
the women. The evaluation observed that both approaches can be
equally successful or unsuccessful according to the level of monitoring
and guidance.
4.4 Effect of aid on micro politics and culture
The micro-politics of local social relations 61 have encouraged as well as
hindered recovery. In most cases aid efforts were slow to recognise these
factors and slow to adapt their work to them. An upcoming evaluation
of the research commissioned by the International Development
Research Council of Canada around conflict and the tsunami 62 showed
that the distribution of aid has been by far the single most important
source of conflict within communities. This is played out through a
number of scenarios, relating to rent seeking from distribution, the disruption
of social hierarchy, lack of cultural sensitivity, and the inappropriate
distinction on the ground between conflict affected and tsunami
affected populations in Indonesia and Sri Lanka.
The interplay with local social structures however occurred in different
ways over time. The LRRD1 studies on Indonesia and on Sri
Lanka had described how the use of local structures (the Keuchik, or
village head in Aceh, for example), which meant that aid intended for
the more vulnerable would end up reinforcing the status of the elite
groups. There appeared to be no effective mechanism to rectify the situation
63 , and the Sri Lanka case study raised concerns regarding the
access to housing of communities with no land titles 64 .
Shifting to long term rehabilitation has in fact addressed these concerns.
The Document Review showed how aid related conflicts registered
by the World Bank in Aceh dropped to half of all registered conflicts
after 2005 65 . The interviews carried out in the different themes of
the evaluation showed a perception that the poorest had benefited most
from relief assistance (which is different from the point made as regards
livelihoods, and also different from geographical targeting, as here the
issue is intra-community). The survey reinforces this message with an
overwhelming number of respondents (some 85%) saying they were not
affected by corruption.
61
Using the terminology proposed in the ToR
62
“Evaluation of Peace, Conflict and Development Research in Countries Affected by Violent Conflict,
South Asia Case Study”, Hoffman et al. Channel Research, draft. Review of the International Centre
for Ethnic Studies project “Post-Tsunami Reconstruction in Contexts of War”
63
Evaluation of LRRD Regarding Intervention in Connection with the Tsunami, Indonesia Case Study,
p34. Channel Research for Sida, 2006
64
This study also note: “The evaluation received numerous complaints of inappropriate targeting,
including reliance on social status, bribery, and lobbying capacity, amongst others, to determine
beneficiaries of goods and services primarily during the post-relief period. Nearly half of respondents
to the LRRD quantitative survey felt that the relief and rehabilitation activities had caused conflict.
A third of the respondents felt that the activities had also caused increased conflict at district
and national levels
65
Document Review, Section 4.2.1 Risks From Conflicts.
80