Abstract
BackgroundThere exists little agreement on the choice of indicators to be used to assess the impact of humanitarian assistance. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami led to significant mortality and displacement in Aceh Province, Indonesia, as well as a nearly unprecedented humanitarian response. Six years after the disaster we conducted an impact assessment of humanitarian services rendered in Aceh using a comprehensive set of rights-based indicators and sought to determine modifiable predictors of improved outcomes in disaster-affected households.MethodsA sample of 597 returned and non-returned households in Banda Aceh and Meulaboh was selected using a multistage stratified cluster survey design. We employed principle components analysis and the Framework on Durable Solutions for Internally Displaced Persons to develop a comprehensive and rights-based approach to humanitarian impact measurement using multivariate regression models.ResultsThe attainment of durable solutions was equivalent in both returned households 100.1 [CI] 97.63-102.5) and households that integrated elsewhere (99.37 [CI] 95.43-103.3, P = 0.781). Standard of living as well as education and health facility satisfaction increased significantly whereas monthly income decreased after the tsunami, from 2585241 IDR ([CI] 2357202–2813279 IDR) to 2038963 ([CI] 1786627–2291298 IDR, P < 0.001). Shelter (P = 0.007) and legal assistance (P < 0.001) were both significantly associated with positive durable solutions outcomes, whereas prolonged displacement duration was significantly associated with poorer outcomes (P < 0.001). Livelihood assistance received after one year was associated with higher odds of increasing or maintaining pre-tsunami income levels (OR = 3.02, P = 0.008), whereas livelihood assistance received within one year was associated with lower odds of attaining pre-tsunami income (OR = 0.52, P = 0.010).ConclusionsWe find that after adjusting for pre-tsunami conditions and tsunami-related damages, the impact of sectoral responses can be assessed. The duration of displacement was the strongest negative predictive factor for the attainment of durable solutions, suggesting that measures to reduce displacement time may be effective in mitigating the long-term effects of disaster on households. The durable solutions framework is a novel and effective impact measurement tool and can be used to identify factors amenable to intervention and inform future disaster recovery efforts.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2458-14-1168) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
There exists little agreement on the choice of indicators to be used to assess the impact of humanitarian assistance
There was a significant improvement in the materials used to construct the housing, as 91.50% were made of brick or concrete after the tsunami versus 66.83% made of brick prior to the tsunami (P < 0.001)
In the final multivariate linear regression model, after adjusting for pre-tsunami household and community infrastructure conditions, we found that positive pre-tsunami predictors of successful durable solutions outcomes were larger household sizes, college or university education of the head of household, the number of household members employed before the tsunami, and the pre-tsunami household monthly income
Summary
There exists little agreement on the choice of indicators to be used to assess the impact of humanitarian assistance. Six years after the disaster we conducted an impact assessment of humanitarian services rendered in Aceh using a comprehensive set of rights-based indicators and sought to determine modifiable predictors of improved outcomes in disaster-affected households. Models accounting only for traumatic experiences at the time of disaster or displacement inadequately account for post-disaster effects, including aspects of the humanitarian response and household recovery. These are the very covariates required to determine whether there are aspects of the recovery effort that may be intervened upon in future disaster to improve outcomes
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