Global funding for risk reduction has undoubtedly increased as a result of the adoption of the Hyogo Framework for Action, but to a far lesser degree than funding for immediate response. In the aftermath of the tsunami, US$14 billion were pledged and, for the most part, delivered. Almost 40% came from private contributions to NGOs and the Red Cross system, as compared to an average of 15% in most disasters. The customary coordination mechanisms and national authorities in affected countries had minimal influence on how this funding was used.

The Tsunami Evaluation Coalition (TEC) conducted a study on the funding of the response to the tsunami in late 2004 and early 2005. Without taking into consideration funds received for disaster prevention, mitigation or risk reduction, the TEC study found that the overly generous funding had a perverse effect on the humanitarian community: The evaluators concluded that “Much of the implementation response was driven by the availability of funds, or by contextual opportunism, rather than by needs.”

Of greater relevance to LAC is the potential for a negative impact on local institutions. In another TEC study, a different group of evaluators noted that: “By ignoring local capacity, the role of external aid is made to seem all the more important. The more external aid there is, the more that local capacity is undermined.” Click here to read the complete study on the Impact of the tsunami response on local and national capacities.

Although the tsunami in South Asia may be an extreme example, the response other major disasters such as the earthquakes in Pakistan followed a similar pattern of very generous short-term donations in the immediate aftermath in high-profile media events.