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Disaster management
Tsunami operation - Opinion pieces
22 January 2008
When saving lives is not enough
By Jerry Talbot, Special Representative for the Tsunami Operation
 Boys playing on the beach. In the three years since the tsunami washed over the Maldives, the Red Cross Red Crescent has supported almost 250,000 people to recover and to begin to rebuild their lives. Photo: Ahmed Zahid/International Federation (p16976)

“I was only thinking of how to get to the hills that time,” remembered Leni, a young mother of a three year old daughter. “I kept remembering the Aceh tsunami while we were running away. The Aceh tsunami taught us a lot. It raised our awareness on earthquakes and tsunamis.” On the night of 13 September 2007, when an earthquake off the coast of Sumatra triggered tsunami warnings around the Indian Ocean, people knew what to do.
A version of this article was published in The Independent (UK) on Monday 24 December, 2007.

05 June 2007
What will it take?
By Johan Schaar, Former Special Representative for the Tsunami Operation
Solomon Islands Red Cross volunteers unload a cargo plane. Photo: Michael Denison / International Federation (p-SLB0033)

This week, representatives from governments, the UN and aid agencies will meet in Geneva to talk about disaster risk reduction, about what needs to be done to minimize the impact of natural hazards like earthquakes, landslides and hurricanes on disaster prone communities.

27 November 2006
Honouring the memory of those lost
By Johan Schaar, Former Special Representative for the Tsunami Operation
Children’s lives were turned upside-down by the tsunami, with many losing homes, families and opportunities.  Photo: Giacomo Pirozzi/UNICEF (p14008)

A crisis always provides opportunity for change. Natural calamities are no different. When countries or communities are struck by disasters, their social, political and institutional weaknesses are mercilessly disclosed and revealed. What did not work, where there was no preparedness and no warning, where men, women and children died avoidable deaths - all of this gets exposed.

28 June 2006
Eighteen months after the tsunami, recovery and reconstruction are the priorities
By Johan Schaar, Former Special Representative for the Tsunami Operation
Red Cross Red Crescent construction site in Matara, Sri Lanka, where 18 houses have been built and are now ready for occupation. Photo: International Federation (p14136)

It is now 18 months since the tsunami crashed onto shores around the Indian Ocean, the most dramatic natural disaster in modern times. Attention has moved elsewhere, but for the people affected, the tsunami is not over. What is happening to the devastated communities, are people getting back on their feet? After a slow first year, there is now real and visible progress in the Herculean recovery effort.

14 December 2005
Learning lessons from the tsunami
By Johan Schaar, Former Special Representative for the Tsunami Operation
Men carry sheets of corrugated iron, which have been dropped off by helicopter, to a distribution point in Kaghan Valley. (p13893)

This has been a year of natural disasters. Starting as the full and horrific impact of the tsunami sunk in, it draws to a close as we struggle to assist the survivors of the earthquake in India and Pakistan. And in-between, hurricanes, storms, floods and landslides, all taking their highest toll among the poorest and least protected communities. Even if the aid community can be satisfied in parts with its response, it must continuously improve to help save lives and rebuild shattered livelihoods. The trend seems clear – natural disasters are on the increase. So what is there to learn from this year?

26 October 2005
Allocating resources responsibly when disaster strikes
By Johan Schaar, Former Special Representative for the Tsunami Operation
Aerial shot of relief distribution outside Meulaboh, Indonesia. (p-IDN0720)

The unique response to the tsunami triggers questions. A very large proportion of resources are in the hands of NGOs and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and its members. Did private donors really intend money to be used beyond immediate emergency relief? Has not more money than is needed been collected and pledged? When the response to other crises suffers from lack of resources, do organisations compromise the principle of proportionality when reserving funds for tsunami recovery?

13 September 2005
Hurricane Katrina-tsunami recovery comparisons
By Johan Schaar, Former Special Representative for the Tsunami Operation
This little boy settles into the Houston Astrodome after a long ride from New Orleans.

Hurricane Katrina has already been called the United States’ tsunami. There are similarities but obviously also differences between the hurricane on the US Gulf Coast and the Indian Ocean tsunami.
What is the same is the endless grief of those who have lost their loved ones, whose hopes and dreams have gone with the receding water, and the courage of the rescue workers and the selfless generosity of strangers who open their homes and give of themselves to help those in need.

24 June 2005
Sustainable, appropriate reconstruction a must for tsunami-affected communities
By Johan Schaar, Former Special Representative for the Tsunami Operation
Indonesia was the country worst-hit by the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 26. Large areas of the northern province of Aceh were completely flattened, at least 115,000 people were killed and 200,000 more left homeless. (p12469) Six months have passed since the tsunami crashed through homes, villages and cities around the Indian Ocean, taking the lives of mothers, fathers and children, killing hopes and futures, destroying communities. An outpouring of generosity and assistance never experienced before has ensured that all survivors could be given temporary shelter and saved from hunger and outbreak of disease. The global demonstration of solidarity with the survivors is something we hope to see repeated for all those suffering in other little-recognised crises around the world.
24 June 2005
More must be done to save lives in disaster zones
By Ian Wilderspin, Head of Disaster Risk Management Unit
 Ian Wilderspin, Head of Disaster Risk Management Unit Disasters strike in different ways and at different times, but when they occur, people in the affected communities will be the ones who undertake the immediate response and provide emergency relief to others. Therefore, it is vital that they know what to do and have reasonable resources to cope with emergency situations.
2 March 2005
A unique opportunity to safeguard the vulnerable
By Markku Niskala, Secretary General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
Fed 911, or 'the Bird' as it was affectionately known by relief workers, allowed the Federation to ensure a consistent, effective supply of relief goods to Aceh (p12615). The tsunami response forum currently being held in Hong Kong is an opportunity for all components of the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement to come together to agree on a coordinated strategy to get these communities devastated by the tsunami back on their feet and help them to better protect themselves against future disasters, according to Markku Niskala, Secretary General of the International Federation.
17 January 2005
Learning the lessons from the tsunami
By Markku Niskala, Secretary General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
There is an immense responsibility on organisations like the Red Cross and Red Crescent to spend the money raised for tsunami victims wisely. That means not only meeting the immediate humanitarian needs of decimated communities or rebuilding their homes and livelihoods. It will also entail taking steps to ensure that if they are again assailed by the forces of nature, they will be able to withstand them.

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More information
21 July 2008
International Federation-wide tsunami semi-annual report: IFRC global report | Indonesia | Sri Lanka | Maldives | India | Thailand
31 March 2008
Revised Plan of action and Budget 2004-2010
(PDF document, 818 kb, 28 pages)
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