Tsunami one year after, NGO aid intervention and future ... - VOICE

Example of NGO response : SOS Kinderdorf
International – South East Asia
Active in eight of the countries hit by the
Tsunami, SOS Kinderdorf has raised more than
€40 million for its programs in South East Asia,
allowing a plan for long-term help. In its response,
the SOS Kinderdorf has worked on various
sectors, such as medical care, food aid, protection
and livelihood/rehabilitation. For the latter, in
particular, SOS Kinderdorf has started a program
for livelihood with fishermen communities, by
organising them in self-help groups; a total of 325
fishing boats and equipment have been provided
to 1.033 families altogether (in India 248 boats for
879 families, in Indonesia 2 mechanised boats for
50 families, in Sri Lanka 22 boats for 51 families
and in Thailand 53 boats for 53 families).
Example of NGO response :
Diakonie – South East Asia
Diakonie responded to the
Tsunami crisis with projects in India,
Indonesia, Somalia and Sri Lanka. With
€44.7 million, raised for more than 90%
from private donations, Diakonie and its
local partners distributed relief, food items,
clothes, mats and tents to the Tsunami
victims. In the longer term, Diakonie
supports substantial housing programs,
including livelihood assistance and income
generation. As part of the rehabilitation
and reconstruction, disaster preparedness
activities are being carried out.
Protection / Conflict
As in any disaster, natural or otherwise, the Tsunami had a disproportionate effect
on some more vulnerable sections of the population. Perhaps the most striking example
is that all indications are that there were many more women than men among the dead.
Various explanations have been put forward for this in different contexts (e.g. social
factors meant that men could more often swim or climb trees than women, men were in
boats or away on errands whilst women were at home with children etc.). In some villages
in North Aceh 80% of fatalities took place among women, causing a radical change
in population and effects that will be far reaching. Gender inequalities have also had
ramifications for protection since the Tsunami. For example, reports have been received
from affected areas of verbal and physical harassment and inappropriate behaviour
by men towards women in the crowded and sometimes insecure conditions of camps.
Another important and disproportionately vulnerable section of the population were
children, most obviously because they either lost or were separated from parents. Many of
the surviving children not only have to face the trauma of abandonment and displacement,
but are also at increased risk of exploitation and abuse. The rebuilding of education programs,
as well as the creation of safe spaces for children, have proved to be of high importance for
getting children back to a “normal life” thus protecting them and facilitating their return to
normal life.
Furthermore, groups who have traditionally faced different types of discrimination,
continued to face exacerbated difficulties after the disaster. For example, reports
indicate that Dalit populations in India not only lost out in the distribution of aid, but
in some cases were told by members of other castes to leave camps, and prevented
from drinking from the same water tanks or eating in the same places as others.
In particular, conflict in Aceh and Sri Lanka had left a legacy of human rights abuses.
Particularly striking has been the situation of those displaced as a result of conflict, rather than
as a result of the natural disaster in Sri Lanka, where assistance to Tsunami victims has served
to highlight the lack of investment in rehabilitation and development of these communities.
Other sections of the population not covered in detail here, such as old people and
people with disabilities, continue to face specific challenges in terms of protection and access
to assistance. The challenge for non-governmental organisations is therefore to identify and
respond to the fundamental rights and specific needs of all sections of the population without
discrimination.
NGO Aid Intervention And Future Challenges
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