A ripple in development - Norad

ternal relations after the shock of the tsunami, but it can take manyyears for such shocks (and shocks that may have been introduced by aid )to be fully resolved in the community. The question seems to be abouthow present internal relations compare with those prior to the tsunami,and the role that community development assistance has had in developingthe post tsunami internal relations.3.2 Functional communitiesTo what extent have housing and reconstruction programmes resulted in functionalcommunities with access to basic infrastructure , services and livelihood ?Functional communities are much more than basic infrastructure , services,and livelihood although these may be a prerequisite for social development(ILO, 2007, p. 23). There are issues here about governance ,and the definition of communities.The document set suggests that this is a very complex area, and thatthere is great variability between different sites. Factionalism and rivalrywithin communities acted against the recovery process in some villages(Thorburn and ACARP, 2007, p. 118). One USAID study found thatfactionalism within communities was a bigger source of disunity thanintra-ethnic hostility (Blue et al., 2007, p. 26).3.3 Micro political impactHow have the micro-politics of local social relations encouraged or hindered recovery ,and to what extent have aid efforts taken such factors into account?It is difficult for aid efforts to take micro-political factors fully into accountas such factors may only be clear, even to members of a society ,with hindsight, and the issues are not easily translated into institutionalreporting (it is very sensitive and may compromise ongoing efforts). Thisis an issue which is not well exposed in the document set which concentratesmore on macro political issues.3.4 Social and economic exclusionTo what extent has reconstruction taken into account the varied structural nature ofsocial and economic exclusion in the affected areas, and attempted to reverse patternsof social exclusion ?One of the concerns raised about the assistance was that it tended toreinforce patterns of social exclusion rather than reversing them. Thedocument set does contain some examples of projects designed to reversepatterns of social exclusion such as Oxfam ’s effort to ensure thatrenters and squatters had a right to a rebuilt house (Oxfam International,2006, p. 15). However it is not clear how successful these effortswere.33