Tsunami relief efforts were hampered by rivalries between charities, the vast sums donated and the failure of the United Nations to co-ordinate help, a report published this week by the British Red Cross says.
The devastation and chaos wreaked by the waves that hit southern Asia meant that many charities duplicated aid but neglected some of the worst-affected areas.
Some aid agencies, eager to raise their profiles, concealed information about the disaster rather than share it with rival organisations, the annual World Disasters Report claims.
About 250,000 people were killed by the tsunami on Boxing Day last year.
A total of £5 billion was donated by people and pledged by governments worldwide in response to the tragedy. Up to 400 charities and organisations went to help the injured, homeless and orphaned and to rebuild the region.
The report, written by independent experts and commissioned by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, says that although charities from around the world were overwhelmed by the death toll many failed to co-ordinate efforts.
“The enormous scale of national and international interest in the disaster, flooding the area with material goods and money, complicated the flow of information,” it says.
“The sheer number of organisations involved led agencies to compete for space, which encouraged them to conceal rather than share information.”
Although the report does not name which charities were the main culprits, it is understood that they were inexperienced and small organisations from around the world.
The report notes that some local emergency services became furious at “disaster tourists” taking the places of doctors.
Iolanda Jaquemet, a journalist writing about relief efforts on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia, said: “Rivalries between agencies competing to spend unprecedented budgets did not encourage information sharing. Can it be right, just because donors have given so generously, for certain agencies to fly their own flag rather than work alongside others?”
The report adds that the UN failed to co-ordinate and unite its own agencies, let alone the other organisations.
Matthias Schmale, the British Red Cross international director, said that the UN had done “a remarkable job” but had been seriously challenged by the scale and complexity of the disaster.
“While the adrenalin rush at times may have prevented us sharing information, I think it would be hard to find a case where it prevented us saving lives,” he said.
Mr Schmale backed calls for the UN to train more of its staff in reporting and sharing information.
While it says that the aid effort did eventually succeed, the authors expressed concern that the needs of women were often neglected because many of those assessing their problems were men.
The region was inundated with surgeons — Banda Aceh in Sumatra had ten field hospitals and a hospital boat with twenty surgeons “competing” over one patient — but was desperate for midwives and nurses.
There was growing concern about a “glut” of money that sometimes funds misguided goodwill, the report adds.
To tackle the issues raised, the report recommends joint assessment of the needs of the people affected by disasters, by appointing an information co-ordinator in the field and for agencies to work with local charities.
The devastation and chaos wreaked by the waves that hit southern Asia meant that many charities duplicated aid but neglected some of the worst-affected areas.
Some aid agencies, eager to raise their profiles, concealed information about the disaster rather than share it with rival organisations, the annual World Disasters Report claims.
About 250,000 people were killed by the tsunami on Boxing Day last year.
A total of £5 billion was donated by people and pledged by governments worldwide in response to the tragedy. Up to 400 charities and organisations went to help the injured, homeless and orphaned and to rebuild the region.
The report, written by independent experts and commissioned by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, says that although charities from around the world were overwhelmed by the death toll many failed to co-ordinate efforts.
“The enormous scale of national and international interest in the disaster, flooding the area with material goods and money, complicated the flow of information,” it says.
“The sheer number of organisations involved led agencies to compete for space, which encouraged them to conceal rather than share information.”
Although the report does not name which charities were the main culprits, it is understood that they were inexperienced and small organisations from around the world.
The report notes that some local emergency services became furious at “disaster tourists” taking the places of doctors.
Iolanda Jaquemet, a journalist writing about relief efforts on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia, said: “Rivalries between agencies competing to spend unprecedented budgets did not encourage information sharing. Can it be right, just because donors have given so generously, for certain agencies to fly their own flag rather than work alongside others?”
The report adds that the UN failed to co-ordinate and unite its own agencies, let alone the other organisations.
Matthias Schmale, the British Red Cross international director, said that the UN had done “a remarkable job” but had been seriously challenged by the scale and complexity of the disaster.
“While the adrenalin rush at times may have prevented us sharing information, I think it would be hard to find a case where it prevented us saving lives,” he said.
Mr Schmale backed calls for the UN to train more of its staff in reporting and sharing information.
While it says that the aid effort did eventually succeed, the authors expressed concern that the needs of women were often neglected because many of those assessing their problems were men.
The region was inundated with surgeons — Banda Aceh in Sumatra had ten field hospitals and a hospital boat with twenty surgeons “competing” over one patient — but was desperate for midwives and nurses.
There was growing concern about a “glut” of money that sometimes funds misguided goodwill, the report adds.
To tackle the issues raised, the report recommends joint assessment of the needs of the people affected by disasters, by appointing an information co-ordinator in the field and for agencies to work with local charities.
