My research project with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Jakarta, examined civil society’s role in representing and addressing the needs of affected communities after the tsunami.  We asked the question: "What will happen to local Acehenese civil society organizations (CSOs) once foreign donors leave?" The problems that international and local Acehenese nongovernmental agencies, donors, and the Badan Rehabilitasi dan Rekonstrukisi (BRR)—Indonesia’s government agency in charge of coordinating rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts in Aceh and Nias—face are extensive.  Given that the world’s focus is shifting from tsunami reconstruction to the immediate relief efforts of the recent South Asian earthquake, empowering civil society in Banda Aceh becomes even more crucial to sustainable development in the region.  Ultimately, it is civil society that will continue the work, long after donor attention has turned elsewhere and donor fatigue has set in. 

   With Margot Hoerrner (KSG Midcareer 2005), I, and two CSIS colleagues, Christine Tjhin and Ita Lele, visited Banda Aceh during July 18-25, 2005 for the purpose of making a preliminary rapid assessment of reconstruction effort.  To see such devastation was an emotional experience. Foundations of buildings had been wiped away, cars were completely compacted, and even mud--thick, blackened sludge--from the tsunami had not yet been cleared away from the streets.   Although the bodies had been removed and much of the debris had been cleared, the area, especially around the coastal shore of Banda Aceh, was grim.   That day, my spirits were revived in reading the words scrawled in bahasa Indonesia on a house near the shore.  In large black graffiti, the words defiantly read, "December 26 2004; The owner of this house is still alive."   

   During our field visit, we conducted approximately 40 interviews from members of UN lead agencies--UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA, UNHIC, which served as coordinators of such sectors as water and sanitation, housing, education, infrastructure, etc. and large international NGOs such as Mercy Corps, International Relief Development, IRC/CARDI, Catholic Relief Services, Islamic Relief, which served as implementers of the reconstruction work.  We also interviewed various national, Jakarta-based NGOs that work in Aceh (such as Yappika), local Achenese NGOs, government donors, and BRR employees, to discuss civil society partnerships, community-driven development, and the challenges facing civil society in Banda Aceh.   

   One key finding was the role of civil society in the reconstruction and rehabilitation process has not yet been fully realized.  This is due in part, because of a lack of government capacity that failed to generate participatory mechanisms—mechanisms that link civil society to local and central government, aid agencies, and donors—as well as internal and external factors.   

   Personally, what this joint KSG-CSIS research project has demonstrated to me, is the amazing resilience of the Acehenese people, who have not only suffered from years of conflict between the TNI (Indonesian army) and GAM (separatist movement in Aceh), but are also coping with the destruction caused by the tsunami.  It is my hope that our research will help strengthen local civil society organizations in Banda Aceh, empowering them for the hard work ahead.