Tsunami: Relief to rehabilitation

Meine van Noordwijk, Trudy O’Connor and Gerhard Manurung

International response to the plight of hundreds of thousands affected by the 2004 Tsunami was quick in speed and great in magnitude. However, the transition from relief to rehabilitation of livelihoods has been protracted.

During a recent workshop in Meulaboh, Indonesia, representatives of local government, national and international agencies identified five main reasons for this slow development:

• Unrealistic expectations of a rapid return to sustainable livelihoods
• Public debate has failed to focus on developing negotiated solutions
• Agencies adapted the “livelihood” approach but omitted important aspects
• Lack of baseline data for management of natural resource; and,
• Inefficient coordination

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