| As people begin to rebuild their lives following the disaster, it is critical they be engaged in the important planning process in which they have such a stake. Consultation and inclusion have been guiding principles of the Bank’s approach to reconstruction following December’s tsunami. June 23, 2005 — In the past six months – since the world’s worst natural disaster in living memory - the World Bank has committed more than US$835 million to help countries devastated by last December’s tsunami. As part of the overall rehabilitation now under way, World Bank funds have been used to repair damaged services, as well as for housing reconstruction and to restore people’s livelihoods.
World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz says more importantly the Bank has committed to work in co-ordination with the international community to ensure resources are used effectively and transparently. "There are big challenges ahead in coordinating the rebuilding effort and guaranteeing that the money pledged gets to people in need. A key focus of the Bank's work has been to ensure that affected communities are involved in assessing their needs and designing recovery programs," Wolfowitz says. The global community, Wolfowitz says, did very well in its initial response to the disaster and prevented additional loss of live from disease and starvation.
But he cautions much work still needs to be done in turning generous donations into lasting humanitarian results. In Indonesia, people hired through the Bank-supported community-driven development program, the Kecamatan Development Program (KDP), have been working in about half of the tsunami-affected villages in Aceh, helping local communities to play a vital role in the decision – making process to rebuild areas devastated by the tsunami. The program is being expanded to cover all villages in Aceh.
“For the past four years, the Kecamatan Development Program has been the largest donor-financed project in operation in Aceh, despite the conflict,” says the World Bank’s Country Director for Indonesia, Andrew Steer.
It is through the existing programs, such as the Kecamatan Development Program, as well as the Bank-financed Urban Poverty Project (UPP), that the Bank has been involved in training at the local level to help villagers map out land boundaries and identify future reconstruction. The World Bank’s Vice President for East Asia Jemal-ud-din Kassum says this approach will be essential as the reconstruction process accelerates in the coming months.
“It is essential to involve affected people in the decision making for their own reconstruction,” Kassum says.“The active involvement of people in Aceh and North Sumatra is also essential to ensuring that money is used well, is accounted for, and that results are achieved, particularly as funds start flowing to communities within the next month.”
The move follows approval last month by the Multi-Donor Trust Fund for Aceh and North Sumatra of four new projects concepts worth US$250 million to provide housing, land rights and community facilities for the earthquake and tsunami-affected people of Aceh and Nias.
The $500 million Multi Donor Trust Fund for Aceh and North Sumatra – which is managed by the Bank – was set up by the Government of Indonesia – in conjunction with other donors to handle some of the millions of dollars pledged from around the world for Indonesia. The funds, to be distributed as grants for rehabilitation and reconstruction, are from the European Commission, the largest member, the Netherlands, the World Bank, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, the Asian Development Bank, the United Kingdom, Canada New Zealand and Germany. More donors are expected to join in the future.
Funding for families and housing in Sri Lanka
In Sri Lanka, already US$36.5 million of Bank funds have been disbursed – with the majority of the funds used for housing grants and livelihood cash grants to people directly affected by the tsunami. The World Bank’s Vice-President for South Asia, Praful Pratel, says money has started to flow into local economies and housing grants are supporting the rebuilding of permanent shelters for people.
“More than 200,000 Sri Lankan families have received cash grants and many of them the passbooks that go with that,” Patel says.”This means many who lost everything also own a new form of identity now.”
The passbooks – given to each family receiving either a housing or livelihood grant – are part of the bid to ensure transparency with funding. The grants are audited both financially and to make sure that funds are reaching genuinely affected people.
“The incredible outpouring of generosity from the international community makes the need that much greater that the tsunami aid money be managed transparently and fairly,” Patel says.
Overall, the World Bank has committed US$150 million to Sri Lanka – a country in which it’s estimated nearly 90,000 homes were damaged or destroyed by the tsunami.
On the ground help in India
In India, World Bank financing under an on-going project has already helped fishermen in the state of Andhra Pradesh resume their livelihoods. In Tamil Nadu, Bank financing is helping improve and upgrade basic services in temporary shelters for people, while planning is already underway to help those affected in other states such as Pondicherry and Kerala. Overall, the Bank has committed US$528.5 million to help India with the majority of the funding for housing reconstruction and restoration of people’s livelihoods, as well as upgrading and repairing rural water supplies in Kerala.
Cash grants in the Maldives
Drawing on lessons from the past Bank funds have been helping the Government of the Maldives provide one-time cash grants to seriously affected families to cover the immediate expenses for food and household items.
A follow-up program provides a small monthly cash payment for a limited period of ten months for the poorest and most vulnerable among the affected population. Bank assistance has also been used to restore livelihoods by providing grants for replacing destroyed fishing vessels and other equipment.
Overall the Bank has allocated US$14 million to be disbursed to the Maldives over a three year period under the Post Tsunami Emergency Relief and Reconstruction Project.
And in Thailand, the Bank is administering a set of grants from the Japanese Social Development Fund to help non-governmental organizations in the affected areas help restore the social and cultural fabric and rebuild a sense of well-being, through support to key vulnerable groups who are struggling to restore their livelihoods after the trauma of December 26. The projects will also help communities put in place a better system for managing the natural environment.
No Easy Task
While funding is already flowing to those affected on the ground, all key stakeholders involved in the reconstruction process have emphasized the enormity of the task ahead.
As Indonesia Country Director says: “This is certainly the most difficult task that most of us have ever been associated with in our professional careers.” |
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