Countless questions abound as to how individuals and communities in Aceh have been affected by their experiences of the relief, reconstruction and development assistance programmes which have mounted in the wake of the disastrous Tsunami event on 26 December 2004.

To seek answers to these queries, FORUM-ASIA (FA) will organise a press briefing on 8 March 2006, 2.00pm at the SASA International House, GM Hall, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok.
 Countless questions abound as to how individuals and communities in Aceh have been affected by their experiences of the relief, reconstruction and development assistance programmes which have mounted in the wake of the disastrous Tsunami event on 26 December 2004.

To seek answers to these queries, FORUM-ASIA (FA) will organise a press briefing on 8 March 2006, 2.00pm at the SASA International House, GM Hall, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok.

During the event, FA together with Eye On Aceh, an independent research organisation that for several years has been publishing reports on critically important themes from Aceh’s past and present, will present its field research over a period of 10 months, identifying several areas of concern. These deal mainly with consultation and communication between donors and beneficiaries, the impact of projects on Aceh’s social fabric, the way in which the projects are monitored and the issue of sustainability.

Below is the invitation for this event.

ACEH: Assessment on aid evaluation one year after Tsunami

Wednesday, 8 March 2006, 2pm
SASA International House, GM Hall,
Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok

With the rise of dollars pouring in aid of Tsunami victims, many questions abound as to how individuals and communities in Aceh had been affected with their experiences of the relief, reconstruction and development assistance programmes that have mounted in the disastrous event of 26 December 2004.

Questions which urgently need answers include: Are people satisfied with the way the assistance programmes were carried out in their communities? Are they consulted at the needs assessment, concept or design stages of the programme? What measures are taken to ensure that all community members, including women, who traditionally have been marginalised in the Acehnese decision making process – consulted? How relevant and useful are the projects? And how could aid have been delivered more effectively?

With these queries in mind, Eye On Aceh conducted field research over a period of 10 months, visited over 50 projects, and conducted more than 1000 interviews. The result is a report that identifies several areas of concern, mainly, consultation and communication between donors and beneficiaries, the impact of projects on Aceh’s social fabric, the way in which the projects are monitored and the issue of sustainability.

In light of these, we offer 20 recommendations to donors and other stakeholders to consider in their effort to restore peace and dignity in Aceh.

Grouped in five categories, these are:

   1. communication and consultation with local communities
   2. building local capacity
   3. avoiding social conflict
   4. monitoring and evaluation, and
   5. protecting the environment,

FORUM-ASIA cordially invites you to a press briefing on 8 March at:

Venue: SASA International House, GM Hall,
Chulalongkorn University,
Chula Soi 12, Pathumwan
Bangkok 10330
Tel: 02 216 8844, Fax 02 218 3880

Please see attached below a brief biodata of the organisations involved and the list of speakers.
For more information, please contact the following persons at FORUM-ASIA:

Maeo: [email protected] / 02 391 8801 ext 404
Tadzrul: [email protected] / 02 391 8801 ext 203

Organisations

Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) is a membership-based regional human rights organisation with 36 members in 14 countries in Asia. It was founded following a consultation among human rights and development NGOs in Asia held in Manila in December 1991. Its regional Secretariat is located in Bangkok, Thailand since 1994. FORUM-ASIA has focused on advocating social justice, sustainable human development, participatory democracy, gender equality, peace and human security through collaboration and cooperation among human rights organisations in the region.

EYE ON ACEH is an independent research organisation that for several years has been publishing reports on critically important themes from Aceh’s past and present. It aims to encourage debate and discussion among and between Acehnese, Indonesian and foreign audiences on social, economic and political issues in Aceh. Its reports can be found on-line at its news information portal: www.acheh-eye.org. Or you may contact: [email protected]

Speakers

Lesley McCulloch is an academic specialising in the Indonesian province of Aceh. Until June 2002 she held a post as a lecturer in Asia Pacific Studies at the University of Tasmania, Hobart. She has written extensively on the conflict in Aceh for newspapers including the International Herald Tribune, the Jakarta Post and The Australian. She resigned from her academic career a few years ago to become a freelance researcher and writer, with a focus on Aceh. These days, most of her time is spent working with EYE ON ACEH and a team of Acehnese researchers. Since then, EYE ON ACEH has published a series of short reports on Aceh which reflect the organisation’s priority interests of justice, human rights, and environmental politics.

Teuku Samsul Bahri is an Acehnese campaigner who has been active on raising social, economic, and political issues in Aceh to the public in various international platforms in Asia and Europe in past several years. His campaign activity has increased since he was appointed as the director of campaign and public relation of Aceh well-known human rights organisation, KontraS – Aceh in 2001, following that, Teuku Samsul Bahri has been active in EYE ON ACEH since 2003 and has been involved in a series of research on Aceh.