Bringing in a life-style change, a tsunami rehabilitation programme has helped 12 young women become full-fledged masons in Tarangambadi near here in Nagapattinam District. Read more..

Hundreds of Indonesian protesters vented their anger on Wednesday against the state body tasked with reconstructing tsunami-hit Aceh province, throwing stones at police and the agency's office. Read more..

INDIA: Bio-fertilizer unit for fisherwomen

Orchid Trust, a corporate social responsibility division of pharma major Orchid Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Ltd, has set up a unit to produce bio-fertilizers and biocontrol agents for fisherwomen at Pattipulam, a coastal village in the district. Read more..

REUTERS: Disasters push children into dangerous jobs

Natural disasters around the world last year disrupted the lives of millions of children, pushing many into armed conflicts, prostitution, drug trafficking and other dangerous occupations, according to a new U.S. government report on child labor. Read more.

INDONESIA: Tsunami-hit Aceh faces corruption, security problems


Corruption, bureaucracy and heavy-handed security forces remain obstacles to economic development in Indonesia's tsunami-hit Aceh province, the head of the agency charged with rebuilding the region. Read more..

INDIA: Disaster Response Force to be set up


The newly set up National Disaster Management Authority has decided to set up a disaster response force comprising eight battalions drawn from Central paramilitary organisations. The National Disaster Response Force will be given specialised training in dealing with disasters within the shortest possible time. Read more...

HELPAGE: Elder People in Crisis


New research by HelpAge International launched today, reveals that although older people are recognised as a vulnerable group, many relief agencies frequently fail to meet their specific needs. Read more...

INDONESIA: Failure of Tsunami Reconstruction Leaves Humanitarian Agencies under Fire

The tsunami of 2004 triggered the biggest humanitarian response in history, feeding the hungry, heading off epidemics and engendering the hope that out of a calamity that took 216,000 lives, a better Indian Ocean rim would emerge.
Read more...


UNICEF: Standard - Setting Schools in Indonesia's Aceh

This case study examines how coordination, or the lack of it, had an impact on the
Tsunami response in Sri Lanka. Read more...


SRI LANKA: Sri Lankans take tsunami warnings into their own hands

In a small room up a rickety staircase in a tsunami-damaged building on Sri Lanka's south coast, Roshan Waduthantri sits glued to an earthquake warning Web site and monitors cable TV channels. Read more...

UN: Sri Lanka war imperils civilians, tsunami aid UN-envoy

A deadly new chapter in Sri Lanka's two-decade civil war is putting the lives of thousands of civilians at risk and derailing efforts to rebuild areas devastated by the 2004 tsunami, a senior UN envoy said. Read more..

INDIA: Temporary Shelter; Permanent Pain

CHENNAI, (indiadisasters.org ): During the last rainy season when her temporary shelter was flooded Elanji had to spend the night standing up, holding her baby, in ankle-deep water. Read more..

INDIA: Waiting for rain under a leaky roof

NAGAPATTINAM: Beams of sunlight penetrate the darkness of this hut made of black, tar-coated sheets and highlight its sparse contents. But they cannot lighten the gloom on the wrinkled face of its owner Anjamma. Read more..

INDIA: Improve shelters, recognise vulnerability: experts

A recent multi-stakeholder meet on the progress of tsunami recovery measures has recommended the improvement of temporary shelters and their recognition as interim/ transit habitats. The meet organized by the Government of Tamil Nadu along with the United Nations agencies and Tamil Nadu Tsunami Resource Center (TNTRC) also urged the government and NGOs to check and act on the vulnerability of houses built close to seashore. Read more..