Trouble is, this huge, collaborative effort at evaulation of the tsunami response received scant attention in the US.
The New York Times made an oblique reference to a report about the tsunami response, mainly to note that the forward written by a local resident (Bill Clinton).
But the real report is worth a read (say, at the beach). ("Joint evaluation of the international response to the Indian Ocean tsunami: Synthesis Report," Full report 175 pages PDF 918Kb, Executive summary 9 pages 92Kb).
Charities come in for serious criticism in the report, both for their lack of coordination and their often self-serving agendas. The proliferation of agencies is discussed starting on page 55 of the full report, with a chart showing that the number of international NGOs operating in Banda Aceh alone peaked at over 160 agencies, not counting the numerous groups that showed up with a single donation. There were 22 medical agencies, 95 groups working on shelter, 60 in education,
- competing for the same limited local infrastucture (like hotel rooms),
- each trying to survey and assess local residents,
- many competing for the high profile interventions
- many supplying inappropriate aid and bringing in inexperienced workers
And yet, the real work was done by a handful of agencies. Coordination was poor, the report says, because the huge funding for tsunami efforts meant that the players had no need to develop common service, there was no funding for coordination, some of the UN personnel had limited skills (at meeting management, for instance), and there was little effort made to stop the flow of inappropriate aid clogging logistics channels.
The recommendation of the report for greater reliance on local efforts and building local capacity to respond is a good idea, but not likely to be implemented.
But the recommendation for international accreditation of agencies shows promise as a reform that would make a difference. If such a system could be coupled with a robust system of independent audit, we might have a formula for disaster response that would cost less and achieve more.
A better system for coordinating donations would also be helpful, to even out the huge disparities that result from media response.
Comments