January 2005

Responding to the Tsunami Disaster

The unprecedented Tsunami disaster that hit Aceh, Indonesia and several countries of South and Southeast Asia and Africa on 26 December 2004 not only destroyed lives and property but devastated communities. Amidst the outpouring of international relief efforts, the need for recovery and reconstruction of the fabric of communities assumes greater and greater urgency in both the immediate and the longer term.

Jan Egeland, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, at a recent press briefing in New York, pointed to the remarkably swift and successful international aid response that, in spite of tremendous odds such as no roads, few air strips, no ports and torrential rains, had prevented a second wave of deaths from disease, saving tens of thousands of lives in just one month, when it would normally have taken three or more. He also stressed that the global community must now vigorously confront the even bigger task of rehabilitation. "We did save a lot of lives, but we have not rebuilt their livelihoods nor given them a standard of living that is anywhere near what they should have," he said. "That is a big, big task ahead, and that will be even bigger than the lifesaving emergency phase." (Read the news report.)

In two of the worst-hit areas — the province of Aceh in Indonesia, and Sri Lanka — as well as in Somalia, the current devastation exacerbates an already complex socioeconomic and political situation due to decades-long civil war and poverty, and threatens to provoke even more deprivation and division. At the same time, however, survival systems and mutual aid networks, including among internally displaced and refugee communities, have emerged, with women at the forefront of many of them, struggling to keep their communities and economies alive.

When Noeleen Heyzer, UNIFEM's executive director, visited Aceh in the immediate aftermath of the Tsunami, she found women leading survival strategies during disaster recovery. The multiple roles Achenese women, who make up an estimated 70 per cent of the population, play — heading households, sustaining subsistence economies, raising children, and caring for the sick, elderly and wounded — have come to form the lifeline of their communities.

As the international community organizes to provide much needed assistance in the rebuilding phase, an emphasis must be placed on restoring and securing women's livelihoods and supporting women's groups and networks whose survival strategies are holding their communities together. These elements are crucial to rapidly and holistically advance emotional, social and economic recovery in the Tsunami-affected areas.

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UNIFEM's Response

UNIFEM joined the United Nations Flash Appeal focused on supporting people in Indonesia, the Maldives, Myanmar, Seychelles, Somalia and Sri Lanka from January to the end of June 2005. The Flash Appeal called for US$977 million to fund the critical work of some forty UN agencies and NGOs. To date, donors have already pledged US$775 million of that amount, an unprecedented rallying by governments around the world to such an appeal.

UNIFEM's request of US$3.67 million has already attracted 56 per cent of the amount from donors, with the governments of Japan and Norway providing the bulk of funding. UNIFEM's programme will focus on Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Somalia and include collaboration with various UN bodies, existing NGO partners and networks, and government entities. Although the programme at present follows the six-month recovery timeframe of the Flash Appeal, UNIFEM's involvement in the affected countries will continue into a longer-term reconstruction stage.

The programme aims to ensure that the human rights, protection, livelihoods and leadership of women and women's organizations are central in overall relief and reconstruction efforts. Projects, among others, will include:

• coordinating a joint interagency effort to assess the gender impact of the Tsunami;
• identifying the specific needs and vulnerabilities of females, including female-headed households, in order to formulate adequate responses;
• channelling quick-impact funds to existing women's organizations running concrete projects;
• supporting women's grassroots organizations and networks to participate in local decision-making processes so that their perspectives are included in mainstream recovery efforts;
• providing training and resources to relief workers under existing UN guidelines related to the protection of women and girls from violence and other human rights abuses; working with UNHCR, UNFPA and UNICEF to prevent, monitor and respond rapidly to exposure of women and girls to violence in shelters, food distribution programmes and other relief efforts;
• creating a network to train and link women producers in affected areas with national, regional and export markets, building on the outpouring of interest in supporting Tsunami-affected communities;
• monitoring mainstream economic development initiatives being put into place for reconstruction to ensure that internally displaced women have equal opportunities and are able to benefit from these.

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More Information on the Tsunami Disaster

Criminals Target Tsunami Victims — by Kate McGeown (BBC News, 4 January 2005)

In Sri Lanka's Time of Agony, A Moment of Peace — by David Rohde (The New York Times, 4 Jan 2005)

Responding to the Tsunami Tragedy: Women Must Be at the Heart of Rebuilding Shattered Communities — by Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Director, UNIFEM (Statement, 5 January 2005). “As the international community organizes to provide much needed assistance, it must prioritize the mobilization and support of women's networks that are crucial for emotional, social, and economic recovery.”

Gender and Natural Disasters: Why We Should Be Focusing on a Gender Perspective of the Tsunami Disaster — by Rochelle Jones (Resource Net Friday File, Issue 208, 7 January 2005, Association for Women in Development)

Women Called on to Help Women Victims — by Sari P. Setiogi (The Jakarta Post, 10 January 2005). Summary: A press conference was organized by the Indonesian Ministry for Women's Empowerment on 8 January 2005 in Jakarta to highlight the specific needs of female survivors of the Tsunami disaster. Addressing the media was UNIFEM's executive director, Noeleen Heyzer, and several women activitists who called on women across the country to help ease the suffering of victims. Reports of sexual harassment and human trafficking have appeared in recent days, presenting a serious threat to vulnerable women and young children in particular.

How Women Power Rebuilt Paddukuppam — by Sheela Bhatt in New Delhi (www.rediff.com, 10 January 2005)

Protection of Women Victims Should Receive Priority — by Sari P. Setiogi interviews UNIFEM Executive Director Noeleen Heyzer (The Jakarta Post, 12 January 2005).

From the Region: UNIFEM Partners Share Their Stories

medica mondiale Reports of Sexual Abuse in Regions Struck by the Tsunami (Press Release, 12 January 2005).

General Assembly Resolution on the Tsunami Disaster (14 January 2005)

UNFPA Ships Supplies to Ensure Safe Childbirth and Meet Women's Needs in Tsunami-Hit Countries (UNFPA Press Release, 14 January 2005)

Survivors Give Birth Without Basic Necessities (UNFPA Press Release, 19 January 2005)

UN Agencies Look to Longer Term Rehabilitation After Indian Ocean Tsunami (UN News Center, 19 January 2005)

In Disaster Zone, Women Are Key — by Swanee Hunt and Don Steinberg (The Christian Science Monitor, 24 January 2005).

Gender, Media and Tsunamis by Ammu Joseph (India Together, 2 February 2005)
Can there possibly be a gender angle to the tsunami story? Certainly, says journalist Ammu Joseph, pointing out that women from economically and socially deprived communities usually bear the brunt of disasters, thanks to the gender dimension of social inequality and inequity.

Links

UN News Centre Special Tsunami pages

Gender and Disaster Network

UNFPA Emergency Assistance to Women in South and Southeast Asia

UN Coordinated Aid to Tsunami Survivors

ReliefWeb South Asia: Earthquake and Tsunami Information

Map of Tsunami-hit Region

UNDP-BCPR Response

OCHA Situation Reports — Tsunami-affected Region

OCHA Somalia Situation Report No. 5

Refugees International

Note: The content of this issue of Currents is intended for informational purposes only. UNIFEM takes no responsibility for any actions taken as a result of information in this issue. The views expressed within the links provided here are those of the corresponding organizations, and do not necessarily represent the views of UNIFEM, the United Nations or any of its affiliated organizations.

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