Tsunami Evaluation Coalition, Initial findings, 10 December 2005, Brussels, Presentation

This report headlines some of the initial findings from the programme of joint thematic evaluations carried out by the Tsunami Evaluation Coalition (TEC). The TEC is a collaborative effort by aid agencies (Donor Governments, United Nations agencies, Non-Governmental Organisations, and the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement) to improve humanitarian systems by learning from the response to the earthquake and tsunamis of December 26th, 2004. Another aim of the TEC is to provide some accountability for the humanitarian system to both the giving and receiving public.
Seven initial findings from the TEC studies are:
1. Overall the relief phase was effective, through a mixture of local assistance in the immediate aftermath and international assistance in the first weeks after the disaster.
2. The scale of the generous public response was unprecedented, not only in the amount of money raised (over $13 internationally) but also in the speed with which money was donated and the way in which it was channelled. The scale of funding has acted as a giant lens, highlighting many of the existing problems in the humanitarian systems.
3. Although local capacity is key to saving lives, this capacity is overlooked by the international media and underestimated and undervalued by the international aid community. International agencies did not engage sufficiently with local actors.
4. Despite the generous response to the Tsunami, the international system for funding of humanitarian emergencies is deeply flawed, with a pattern of under-funding humanitarian response in general. This pattern of low funding for most emergencies limits the capacity of the international aid system, and makes it difficult for the system to scale-up to respond appropriately to a large emergency like this one.
5. Agencies focus too much on their own institutional needs and not enough on the needs of the affected populations. Agencies are still not transparent enough or accountable enough to the people they are trying to assist. In come cases agencies are also not sufficiently accountable to those providing the funding.
6. While the relief phase went well, the recovery phase is encountering many problems due in part to the greater complexity of recovery and to the demands that such complexity places on the aid agencies.
7. The nature of the tsunami response changed quite significantly during 2005. What was true of the initial phase of the tsunami response, for example, competition between agencies for “turf”, was not true of the later phases.
Overall the generous response to the tsunami permitted an effective relief operation, but this very generosity has highlighted existing areas in need of improvement in the international humanitarian response system. Key areas in which agencies can make improve current operations are:
Their engagement with local actors.
Transparency, communication with, and accountability to the affected populations.
Transparency towards their donors.
The TEC synthesis report, due in May 2006, will present detailed recommendations for correcting the weaknesses in the international humanitarian system that have been highlighted by the TEC studies. The five TEC Thematic Reports will also identify examples of best practice in the tsunami response that agencies can adopt in their future operations.