Strengthening Civil Society in the Midst of Natural Disaster

On December 26, 2004, a massive earthquake triggered a devastating tsunami in the Indian Ocean that took over two hundred thousand lives in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and other Southeast Asian countries.

This issue of The Bridge reflects on the experiences of Mercy Corps in responding to the unprecedented humanitarian disaster following the tsunami and analyzes some of the impacts of natural disasters on civil society structures and relationships and how these impacts inform Mercy Corps' programming.

Some challenges and opportunities in strengthening civil society amidst disasters touched upon in this report include an analysis of how local, community based organizations, businesses, religious institutions, and individuals can successfully mobilize communities to participate in relief and recovery programs.

Also, although disasters may damage a community's infrastructure making coordination difficult, utilizing and strengthening local capacity will bring the long-term success of emergency responses. Read more about these lessons and more learned from Mercy Corps' long history of responding to natural disasters in a community-focused approach in this newsletter.