Housing reconstruction and rehabilitation in Aceh and Nias, Indonesia—Rebuilding lives

Reconstruction and rehabilitation of housing in Aceh and Nias, Indonesia, which were destroyed by the dramatic earthquake and tsunami of 26 December 2004, has become a major effort of a large number of international and Indonesian organizations. An unprecedented wave of pledges for assistance was made available, and numerous agencies, some of them without prior experience in construction of housing, have contributed to reconstruction. As could be expected, the reconstruction process has been affected by numerous bottlenecks, and has been much slower than intended, particularly in the case of multilateral agencies. As the speed of implementation has picked up during 2006, there is growing concern for more quality of finished products, for more integration of housing with residential infrastructure, and for additional livelihood support, as it is not only habitat which matters but reconstruction of lives and communities. The experiences of Aceh and Nias are also a testing ground for the massive application of community-driven development, which is meant to be the backbone of a sustainable development effort by the people themselves.