Resource information
On December 26 2004, a 9.3 magnitude
earthquake struck the Indian Ocean and unleashed a blast of
energy, creating a tsunami three stories high. The disaster
which claimed more than 228,000 lives had an impact on the
lives of more than 2.5 million people causing close to US$
11.4 billion of damage in 14 countries. The highest price
was paid in Aceh, which had the greatest death toll of
130,000 confirmed dead and a further 37,000 reported
missing. In Banda Aceh, the capital of the province, the
tsunami claimed more than one-third of the city's
population. An estimated 500,000 people were displaced by
the disaster and some 250,000 houses damaged or destroyed.
More than 500 miles of coastline was affected, with an
estimated 53,795 parcels of land permanently destroyed
through erosion or submersion. Documentation of land
ownership was largely destroyed and physical evidence, such
as walls, fences and boundary markers were completely
eradicated. The tsunami and earthquake not only shattered
housing and other coastal infrastructure, but it also shook
the very foundations of the Acehnese society and the social
capital that had taken decades to build up, in the midst of
a thirty year civil war. As is usually the case during times
of disaster and emergency, women bore the greatest burden as
the tsunami deprived them of the existing safety nets
offered by their families, especially spouses or parents.
This smart lesson describes the experience of the World
Bank's emergency response team who worked to support
the reconstruction of post-tsunami Aceh and North Sumatra
and how this served as important entry point to address
women's land and property rights.
