Feature Stories
UNDP
hands over fishing boats to tsunami survivors
14 June 2006 - This project is implemented by Islamic Relief
and targets fishing communities in the Pidie district in the east coast
of Banda Aceh, Indonesia. More...
Tsunami-hit Thai Muslim Community Granted Land Rights in a
National Park
7 March 2006, Koh Muk, Trang Province Thailand –
An historic ground-breaking ceremony today marks a triumph for the Muslim
community living on Koh Muk in securing land rights for their resettlement
after the tsunami destroyed their village. This case is a landmark victory
in the fight for secure land tenure along the tsunami-ravaged Andaman
coast of Southern Thailand. More
All-Women Local Bank opens in tsunami hit Meuraxa, Banda Aceh
Banda Aceh, 2 February 2006 – Residents
of Meuraxa in Banda Aceh can now deposit their money, apply for loans
and get general financial supports and advice from their own local bank
named Baitul Quiradh Meuraxa.
The bank is a new branch of the shari’ah-based microfinance institution of Baitul Quiradh Baiturrahman (BQB) – unusual because it is entirely run by women. BQB lost most of their assets and many of their personnel and clients in the tsunami of 2004. Meuraxa, which is a district within Banda Aceh, was one of the worst-hit areas of the tsunami, losing an estimated 90% of its population and almost all of its buildings and infrastructure. More...
Building Boom in Aceh, Indonesia, to Reach $2 Billion a Year
22 December – An unprecedented jump in construction could result in many opportunities for the poorest in this tsunami-hit community, with the right training and enhanced local production of materials. Full story
Controlled Demo to take down tallest tower in Banda Aceh - Debris to be used for rebuilding
20 December, Banda Aceh, Indonesia - The tallest non-religious building in Banda Aceh will be brought down in a controlled demolition beginning today. The 45-year old water tower heavily damaged by the tsunami, which stands like a local Tower of Pisa with a pie on top, is a hazard to people and buildings around it. Full story
First Ferry Since Tsunami Moors at Ulee Lheu PortBanda Aceh, 9 December 2005 – The ferry from Sabang Island, Indonesia landed at Ulee Lhue port in Banda Aceh today for the first time since the tsunami, following an extensive rehabilitation programme by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Banda Aceh Transportation Agency which has returned the port to use. Full story
UNDP/UN-HABITAT launch land registration leaflet for tsunami victims
Banda Aceh, December 8th – Victims of the tsunami who have not been able to access housing support because they could not prove ownership of their land can now use a simple leaflet as a temporary land deed.
The inability of many victims to prove land ownership, either because their deeds were swept away by the wave or because their land wasn’t actually registered, has proved a major stumbling block to the reconstruction effort. The leaflet, which explains housing rights and entitlements to victims, also contains a form which, when filled in and signed by local officials, can legally be used as a temporary land deed. Full story
UNDP and UN Staff Finalize Plans for Staff Donations Slated for Tsunami Recovery
New York 2 December 2005 —The UN Staff Relief Committee for Tsunami Victims, which collected $245,477 has signed an agreement with the United Nations Development Programme to implement a range of projects to help tsunami survivors rebuild their lives. With the UN Foundation matching the staff contribution, the total funding for the programmes amounts to almost $500,000.Full story.
On the Eve of Tsunami Commemoration
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, the U.N. Envoy for Tsunami Recovery,
Returns to Indonesia
ACEH, Indonesia 30 November 2005 - As the one-year commemoration
of the tsunami approaches, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, the United
Nations Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery, returned to Indonesia today
to the region that suffered the greatest damage and loss caused by the
December 2004 tsunami. More..
Thailand Launches New Tsunami Aid Tracking System
Bangkok, 28 October 2005 – A new website to track international assistance to Thailand’s tsunami recovery effort was launched today. It is expected to significantly improve coordination and monitoring of the long-term international support to tsunami recovery in Thailand. More..
Tsunami survivors in Banda Aceh receiving small businesses assistance
Banda Aceh, 19 October 2005 – More than 2,000 tsunami survivors are receiving entrepreneurial training under the first stage of UNDP’s small businesses project. The project offers training in business basics, such as in adopting a business plan and in managing finances. So far, 300 businesses have been awarded grants. More...
Job retraining key to reconstruction in Aceh
Meulaboh, Aceh, 8 September 2005 —Mulia Hati, a centre for
women’s employment and support operated by Samaritan’s Purse
and funded by UNDP opened just a few weeks ago but has already become
a second home to the women working here.
 |
Working women at Mulia Hati, a centre for women’s employment and support operated by Samaritan’s Purse and funded by UNDP. |
Eight months after the tsunami, signs of change and renewal in Aceh are becoming clearer by the day. Houses are going up, children are back in school and even those still in temporary housing are starting to return to work. Full story.
Sri Lanka launches new system to monitor tsunami funds
Colombo, Sri Lanka, 2 September 2005 —Sri Lanka today launched a new system to track tsunami reconstruction assistance that will allow anyone with an internet connection to monitor progress. The web site, http://dad.tafren.gov.lk, allows the public to see how funds are being spent, right down to the district level. Similar systems will soon be launched in other tsunami-affected countries including Indonesia, Maldives and Thailand. More...
Tsunami damage threatens progress toward MDGs in Maldives
Male’,
Maldives, 17 August 2005 —Last December’s tsunami sharply
magnified problems associated with polluted ground water and rising
sea level in the low-lying Maldives according to a new report issued
by UNDP.
According to the report, which reviews progress toward meeting the Millennium Development Goals, the tsunami destroyed more than 90 percent of toilets on some islands. The tsunami wave contaminated the ground water with salt and washed fecal matter out of septic tanks and into the freshwater wells on many islands. Freshwater was forced up and out of some wells, while others were inundated with floodwater. Nearly eight months on from the tsunami, the problem is still a big one. Full story
Tsunami survivors voice concerns on reconstruction as dialogue
begins
Colombo,
2 August 2005 —For tsunami survivors feeling left out of
the reconstruction process, UNDP has initiated peoples’ consultations
that will take place in more than 1,000 villagers, giving people a chance
to voice their concerns and needs on recovery projects in the tsunami-affected
districts of the island.
Much of the reconstruction and rehabilitation work that has take place since the last December’s tsunami, the survivors say, has been carried-out with minimal consultations with the affected communities. Full story
Women from tsunami-hit districts in five countries meet to address gender concerns in reconstruction
Batticaloa, Sri Lanka, 1 August —Thirty six year old Jesinda Jeganathan squats with her face resting on her palm outside her 10 by 10 tin beach shack in the Zahira College tsunami relief camp in Batticaloa. Her thoughts are not on the tsunami which flattened her house, destroyed her livelihood and killed her relatives, but on the future that awaits her. Full story.
UNDP Supporting Community-based Tsunami Early-Warning System in Thailand
Bangkok,
29 July 2005 —UNDP will support a Thai Government effort
to implement a community-based, multi-hazard early warning and disaster
preparedness system in the country as a result of an agreement signed
today with the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC ).
The early warning system project, UNDP officials say, will help establish a culture of safety that starts with a tsunami early-warning system and ends with a heightened awareness of disaster planning and mitigation at all levels of Thai society. Full story
Special UN Envoy, Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, Praises Relief Effort But Urges Renewed Momentum
Geneva/New York, 23 June 2005 —Six months after the tsunami ripped through communities across the Indian Ocean last December, the development agencies most involved in the recovery effort said the toughest challenges still lie ahead - including the complex issues of where to re-establish housing, how to quickly restore livelihoods, and what to prioritize now that the immediate relief phase is over.
Speaking on behalf of the UN agencies involved in ongoing recovery efforts, former U.S. President Bill Clinton said that while the immediate relief effort had been extraordinary the magnitude of the job ahead remained daunting. Full Story
Tsunami survivors start over: Women use UNDP 'Cash for Work' earnings for businesses
Banda Aceh, Indonesia, 21 June 2005 —Several tsunami survivors who have participated in UNDP’s Cash for Work programme have invested their earnings in new businesses. Although the wages paid by the programme are modest for their efforts to clear rubble, mend boats and fishing nets and clear land—they are paid 35,000 RP per day (about US$3.50)—some have managed to save and invest in new businesses which are now providing them with a steady income and the basis for a new post-tsunami future. Full story.
UNDP expands successful tsunami waste recycling project
Banda Aceh, Indonesia, 1 June 2005 — A new programme is now turning as much as 70 percent of that rubble and refuse left by the earthquake and tsunami into reusable materials. The programme, the Tsunami Waste Management Programme, which was established as a pilot project last month, has now been doubled in size.
About 500 Acehnese have been hired by a UNDP recycling programme that is turning tsunami debris into reusable materials.
Some 70 percent of the waste, however, is recyclable. Under this programme, UNDP and its local government partners collect the waste dumped by the tsunami in Banda Aceh and sort it into materials which can be re-used, such as wood, rubble and organic matter. Full story
Maldives fishermen now harvesting tsunami driftwood
31 May 2005, Dhiggaru, Maldives: Hussein Moosa used to be a fisherman on Dhiggaru, a remote island in the Maldives. Today he spends his days collecting and chopping up Indonesian hardwood, which was dragged out to sea when the tsunami struck on 26 December last year. The timber is now beginning to float ashore in other countries across the region, posing a hazard for the speedboats that ply the waters of the Maldives, but also offering a possible source of income and building materials for the thousands of fishermen and their families who have lost boats and fishing gear.
The hardwood, which would fetch hundreds of dollars per cubic metre in western countries, is being sawed into planks for use in boats and to fix houses on the island of 1,200, where 14 families are still displaced from the tsunami. Full story
Tourism and culture highlighted in plans to develop post-tsunami Koh Lanta, Thailand
Koh Lanta, Thailand, 13 May 2005 —A new development strategy for Koh Lanta in southern Thailand was launched to bolster the island’s post-tsunami recovery efforts and establish the island as a model of economic and social harmony paired with forward-thinking natural resource management.
Emphasizing support to local government, the project will mobilize community leaders and the private sector to design and implement plans for developing the island in a sustainable, eco-friendly, tourism-smart, culturally-sensitive way, well beyond the immediate tsunami recovery needs. Full story.
Former US Presidents say $10 million in privately raised funds for tsunami reconstruction to include adopt-an-island in MaldivesHouston, USA, 6 May 2005 —George Bush and Bill Clinton, the 41st and 42nd Presidents of the United States, announced that a private fund bearing their names has raised US$10 million so far and will be used to target projects in four countries affected by last December’s Indian Ocean tsunami, including the United Nation Development Programme’s adopt-an-island programme in the Maldives. Full story
Tsunami survivors work to clear coastal debris in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, 22 April 2005 —Using bare hands, shovels and barrows, tsunami survivors in Sri Lanka are cleaning the debris-strewn coast and getting paid for it under a United Nations Development Programme project funded by the Japanese government. Full story.
Rebuilding an island in the Maldives: A roof over every head in Naalaafushi
Naalaafushi, Maldives, 18 April 2005 —It is almost four months since the tsunami washed away almost every home and building on Naalaafushi, but today, every home on the island has been rebuilt and every family has a roof over their head.
As the community prepares for the monsoon season, people’s lives are slowly getting back to normality. After camping in the ruins of a neighbouring house since the tsunami, Haleemath Ali and her family have just moved into their rebuilt home. Full story
Every family now has a roof over their head as a result of a partnership between Banyan Tree Resorts and UNDP. Video...
Clinton says successful tsunami reconstruction could serve as a model for future crises
New York, 13 April 2005 —Former United States President Bill Clinton, stepping into his new role as special envoy to lead UN tsunami recovery operations, said that a successful UN tsunami reconstruction effort could serve as a model for rebuilding in other stricken areas recovering from future crises. Full Story
People to help chart rebuilding of communities
2 March 2005: Hundreds of people converged on Aceh's Syida Kuala University for the first of a series of public consultations on the government's plans for the future of Aceh, the so-called "blueprint," for reconstruction. The meeting is an attempt to involve people and communities in the rebuilding efforts. Full story
Tsunami Waste Management Programme
Banda Aceh, 4 February 2005 - The destruction and damage caused by the tsunami has generated large volumes of solid waste. When not properly managed this waste can pose environmental hazards, serious dangers to public health and delay the process of recovery and rehabilitation. UNDP in close cooperation with the Indonesian government will start appropriate waste management and recycling initiatives for both the tsunami waste and municipal garbage in Banda Aceh. A first pilot project on tsunami waste management will start soon and will continue during the transition, rehabilitation and recovery phases. Full story
