Learning from crisis: Strengthening humanitarian response since the 2004 Indian ocean tsunami

On December 26, 2004, a massive earthquake triggered a series of devastating tsunamis that crashed into the shorelines of 14 countries across the Indian Ocean. More than 228,000 people were killed.1 Almost two million were left homeless. Houses, schools, hospitals and roads were washed away. The scale of the disaster and the brutal speed with which lives were abruptly destroyed was something the modern world had never seen before. Within hours, governments, aid agencies and people around the world responded with an outpouring of donations, emergency teams and goodwill. The tsunami was a turning point for the global aid community; never before had such a massive, coordinated emergency response and reconstruction program been launched across so many countries in response to a natural disaster. The world succeeded in helping the affected countries rebuild and recover, and the