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Contributions from
the Column
Monitor
Tsunami relief: Too much of a good thing
Merits and limts of contract farming
EU sugar regime: Double-edged pledge
Afghanistan’s drug cultivation at a record high
US government agency assesses Millenium Challenge Account
More votes for emerging nations at IMF
Oil: World Bank and Chad reach agreement
Slow progress in fight against desertification
Private sector: Making money in peace
10/2006
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[ Tsunami relief ]
Too much of a good thing
After the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, international aid organisations very quickly collected the record sum of $ 13.5 billion, more than five billion of which came from private donors. The affected populations of Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India and Thailand could be helped more quickly and extensively than had been the case in previous disasters. The seemingly inexhaustible funds also made possible a relatively smooth transition from relief to reconstruction.
This is one conclusion of a report presented by the Tsunami Evaluation Coalition (TEC) in July. It’s main thrust, however, is analysing the darker side of this financial blessing. Too many – and, above all, too many unprofessional – organisations took part in the aid efforts. They did not only do good in the process. Coordination among relief agencies was abysmal, the needs of the people affected frequently ignored, and local efforts were marginalised. The Tsunami Evaluation Coalition is a network of almost fifty international governmental and non-governmental aid organisations and research centres.
The TEC report examines international aid in the first eleven months after the tsunami. On the one hand, the enormous sum provided by the world’s “humanitarian industry” attracted numerous incompetent new actors. Moreover, many well-established organisations started working in areas beyond their expertise. The large number of agencies increased the transaction costs of coordinating action. Furthermore, due to the generous funds, the helpers did not have to rely on cooperation, but could act independently. Finally, their immense competition put them under pressure to present visible results as fast as possible. In many cases, that meant that needs and living conditions of the target groups were not considered. Not even the United Nations and the Red Cross based their engagement on a joint assessment of needs.
The TEC report is especially critical of the fact that only a few international organisations lived up to their own standards in terms of respecting and encouraging local self-help: “Many efforts and capacities of locals and nationals were marginalised by an overwhelming flood of well-funded international agencies (as well as hundreds of private individuals and organisations).” Often, local capacities were employed in support of foreign organisations rather than of local teams. In many cases, the international organisations did not even manage to appropriately inform the affected population.
International assistance was most effective where it not only relied on locals, but where it was made accountable to locals. In this respect, the most successful agencies were those that had already been involved with local partners in the affected countries before the disaster. The study concludes that, without better regulation of international relief and recovery work, the deficiencies that became apparent after the tsunami will arise again in future disasters. The authors demand that an international procedure for certifying and accrediting aid organisations be established, in order to filter out agencies that do not meet professional standards . (ell)
On the Internet:
http://www.tsunami-evaluation.org/The+TEC+Synthesis+Report/
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