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

Chapter Four :
Challenges and Lessons
Learned by NGOs
The “second Tsunami”, the post-disaster epidemic and deprivation predicted
by some, never happened. The overall response from the humanitarian community has
been timely and no major outbreak of disease has been registered; NGOs were able to reach
almost two million people with emergency medical assistance and food aid. Six months after
the Tsunami struck, immediate needs have been met and, already after the first month of
response, European NGOs were able to channel their efforts into beginning reconstruction
and rehabilitation. In Sri Lanka, for example, around 30.000 provisional shelters have been
built and in Indonesia some 11.000 earthquake resistant homes are under construction. The
rehabilitation phase is in progress, even if it is clear that significant humanitarian needs will
persist for at least the next two years, especially among IDPs, women, children and minorities.
The Tsunami disaster gave rise to many of the challenges usually faced by
NGOs in responding to sudden emergencies. However, because of its extraordinary
magnitude and its wide geographical scope, it has exacerbated and intensified challenges
sometimes to a point never experienced before. The Tsunami has further increased
institutional learning among NGOs and below some of the specific situations NGOs have
been confronted with and some of the lessons that have been learned are described.
Coordination
A key challenge, particularly in the initial stages of the relief effort, has been
ensuring effective coordination between all actors involved. Actors range from the people
directly affected, their families and communities, to local authorities, local NGOs, regional
and national governments and a great number of international NGOs and international aid
organisations. Sixteen UN agencies, 18 IFRC response teams, hundreds of NGOs (more
than 200 in Aceh alone), military forces from 35 countries and countless private companies
and civil society groups were active in the Tsunami region soon after the disaster struck.
While the disaster response of the first months had a clear humanitarian character,
nevertheless a broader spectrum and bigger number of NGOs were involved in the response
than in other humanitarian crises. Three groups of NGOs were mainly active: traditional
humanitarian NGOs; NGOs active in development, but with a pre-established presence in the
affected region and moving to an emergency response (LRRD approach); and new NGOs, not
familiar with the region, but suddenly receiving funds to work in the Tsunami affected region.
The coordination of all these efforts was made even more difficult by the great number
of individuals and specific initiatives coming from the North: many wanted to get involved in the
relief effort, but often spontaneous initiatives, under-qualified, under-resourced and frequently
questionable “humanitarian tourists”, ignored local people or local coordination initiatives.
Coordination initiatives were established. The UN took in charge the coordination of
the efforts of the international community in the region, but soon had to lower its ambitions
from coordination to information sharing activities, with varying degrees of success.
NGO Aid Intervention And Future Challenges
19