Fathimath Afiya, head of Maldivian NGO, Care Society and a member of ActionAids international tsunami response management team, is one of the panellists alongside the United Nations Jan Egeland and Eric Schwartz, Deputy to Bill Clinton, Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery, and shares her thought with us:

The fact that I am here in Geneva today shows that we are learning lessons from disasters. We know that millions of lives are saved each year through international humanitarian efforts. This was true in the wake of the tsunami.

But we hear less about how the victims, those directly affected, rescued family members and their neighbours, provided shelter and food, transported the injured and organised community responses.

We hear less still about how lasting recovery, whether from earthquakes, floods, famines or tsunamis, is only possible when international agencies work hand-in-hand with affected communities, and support local organisations in leading the response.

That's why initiatives such as the Tsunami Evaluation Coalition are so crucial. Recognising what works, and where we can do better, is the first step in shaping humanitarian action of the future, in making the rest as good as the best.

Care Society, the organisation I work for, is one of the few national non-governmental organisations in the Maldives. When the tsunami struck, salt water washed over fragile low-lying land, destroying crops and the one-storey coral-brick houses in which many families live. 100 people died in what was the biggest disaster the Maldives have seen. A drop of 62% in GDP gives an indication of the scale of economic impact.

In the wake of the tsunami, ActionAid, an international NGO fighting poverty in 44 countries, came to ask how they could help. That was the beginning of a partnership that has seen Care Society to rise to an immense challenge of co-ordinating relief between remote islands with severely limited communication and basic services. Imagine organising the delivery of clean water and building materials to an island with only one telephone and no jetty

But more importantly, this partnership has helped to build the skills and confidence of a whole range of community organisations in the Maldives, and created opportunities for shy young women to become leaders in the response on their islands.

Women like Zahuda who lost her family home in the disaster and now spends her day visiting others who are awaiting re-housing, drafting letters with single mothers to alert the authorities to their concerns, providing listening ear and distributing seeds to women farmers who lost their crops but are often overlooked in official efforts to rebuild livelihoods.

This is just one example of what we call building local capacity. I am another. Eighteen months on from the tsunami, I sit on ActionAids management team for the response a leader of a local organisation with an equal say in decisions that shape the recovery programme of an international agency across five countries.
At all levels local, national and international, I see the old images of helpless victims gradually being replaced by those of survivors and local activists shaping their future, in partnership with the international community and aid agencies.

There is of course a long way to go but the Tsunami Evaluation Coalition is about learning lessons to get us there faster.

Perhaps the most important lesson, one underlined by a report released in February following interviews with some 50,000 tsunami survivors, is the need to bring human rights principles into disaster response. Something Bill Clinton, special envoy for tsunami response called one of the five critical challenges.

The responsibility is ours, as NGOs, UN agencies, governments and donors, to focus our emergency efforts in line with universally agreed human rights standards. Together we can ensure that relief and rehabilitation, from food rations to homes and livelihoods, meet basic minimum standards.

And that the most vulnerable in our communities women, children and groups facing discrimination such as sea gypsies in Thailand or dalits in India are actively involved in leading the recovery and building a sustainable future.

For more on the Tsunami Evaluation Coalition: www.tsunami-evaluation.org

To read Tsunami Response: A Human Rights Assessment an ActionAid report based on interviews with 50,000 tsunami survivors: http://www.actionaid.org/index.asp?page_id=1058