Resolution Adopted by the Survivors of the Indian Ocean Tsunami in Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and Indonesia

1. We speak as survivors not as helpless victims

We, survivors from tsunami-affected communities in Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and India, have gathered in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on 13 March 2005 to affirm our solidarity as victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami on 26 December 2004, the world's worst natural disaster in its recent history, that has caused heavy losses of human life, disruption of livelihoods and displacement of several millions of people in the Asian region. We, along with tens of thousands of other families, have lost our houses, our household effects and other property, our legal documentation, our livelihoods and consequently, control over our own lives.   We thank our civil society friends from the region and beyond for making it possible for us to come to Colombo and share our experiences of the post tsunami recovery and reconstruction to date and sincerely hope our thoughts and concerns will be heard by our governments, our fellow citizens and by all others who wish to help us to rebuild our lives and our communities.

2. We are deeply grateful for the solidarity shown at home and around the world

We are reassured however, that the tragic plight of the tsunami survivors has inspired an unprecedented level of local, national and global solidarity with the victims like ourselves.   We also deeply appreciate the generous outpouring of aid and assistance from all quarters and we believe that it is more than sufficient to meet the emergency relief and temporary shelter needs of all and to support the costs of permanent housing and other physical reconstruction as well as the economic recovery of all the affected communities.

3. We realize that the recovery and reconstruction task cannot be done for us

From our direct experiences in our own countries and from our visits to a range of affected communities in our host country, we can see clearly that the scale and urgency of the reconstruction and recovery task is simply beyond the capacity of conventional government administrative systems with their centralized approval procedures and generalized regulations and policies.   Our continuing difficulties and distress are a clear indication that the post disaster reconstruction effort calls for an innovative, decentralized, people-based approach. Only if the survivors' voices are heard will various levels of government and all other relevant actors be able to contribute positively toward, rather than hinder, the affected family's own efforts to recover.

4. We are ready and willing to help ourselves rebuild our communities

We affirm as survivors that affected communities in all our countries are extremely motivated to rebuild their own lives and to work in harmony with those who wish to assist them.   What is needed is a strategy that enables our communities to organize and undertake appropriate initiatives to achieve a speedy and secure recovery. If this is done we believe that the tsunami disaster can be transformed into an historic opportunity for people like us to learn to take care of their communities and settlements in a better way.   For we know that the majority of us in the tsunami affected areas have been living insecurely in very poor and inadequately serviced conditions before the disaster struck.

5. We call upon our governments to support people based solutions

Therefore, we propose that the local authorities in tsunami affected districts should use this opportunity to bring their residents and other stakeholders together to consult with each other and work out how best to rebuild their villages and urban settlements for the benefit of all.   Once such village, district or town level consultations have been organized, funds can be passed directly to local committees for local reconstruction efforts under simple enabling and equitable governmental guidelines. This would allow appropriate shelter and settlement reconstruction to take place in hundreds of different communities at the same time and enable the urgent needs of very large numbers of the survivors to be met in a timely, appropriate and efficient manner.  

6. Restoring our former land (or land in locations that will not destroy our livelihoods) and rebuilding houses is our most urgent priority

We strongly believe that restoring our houses is the most critical first step towards making a new beginning.   Doing this with the least possible delay will help us to escape the dehumanizing conditions of living in welfare centers. Returning to our traditionally settled land where we owned our houses in our former neighborhoods will restore to us the security of the social support systems inherent in our cultures and enable us to work collectively as communities.

7. Restoring our livelihoods is the other vital step to our recovery

We also stress our need to return to our original community sites, since our livelihoods and sources of family income were also found in our traditional neighborhoods. Returning to our earlier sites will help us to become self reliant and gain access to resources to complement government and public assistance to rebuild our houses.

8. We question arbitrary and inequitable policies that have been invoked without consultation

We are deeply concerned that in several of our countries, our governments have not thought to consult us in order to understand our real needs.   Further, we are deeply distressed at the various arbitrary 'no build' zones imposed as we know these threaten our housing and livelihoods and dash our hopes of securing a new start in life.   We are deeply concerned with the inequity of the decision and its potential discrimination against the poor. This is clearly the case when tourist hotels are being permitted to re-build in zones which are denied to us.

9.  We believe that there are no tenable environmental reasons for such setback zones which vary widely from country to country

We are also concerned that providing alternative land for those of us displaced by such setback zones would require the acquisition of new land, which often can only be obtained through changing the use of existing agricultural and plantation lands or   clearing virgin forests, etc., none of which are free of serious environmental consequences.   We therefore call on all governments concerned to relax these policies and to apply them only to households living in environmentally sensitive areas and in areas hazardous to human life.   Doing so would allow the vast majority of displaced families to return to their original sites and rebuild their lives and communities without protracted delays and uncertainties.  

10. Rather than setback zones we urge the rapid establishment of reliable early warning systems.

Instead of penalizing the poorer villagers and settlements close to seashores, we urge all our governments to protect all coastline populations by establishing reliable early warning systems using the most recent technologies and communications systems.  

11. We hope that the reconstruction process can help to bring peace in areas of conflict

We are also eager to note that in some tsunami hit countries where there have been armed conflicts there is a new impetus among opposing parties to cease armed hostilities for the moment and to cooperate for the relief and reconstruction process.   We sincerely hope that the emerging collaboration for humane relief and reconstruction work will initiate a healing process and bring about a permanent peace.

12. We commit ourselves to work wholeheartedly with our governments and fellow citizens to overcome our loss and rebuild our devastated villages and settlements.

We solemnly reaffirm on this day, that the poor of the world represent the large majority of the entire human family and make a significant contribution in creating the wealth of nations. Through the expressions of solidarity as witnessed as a result of this event, we stand together with our fellow survivors, committed to helping each other to realize our aspirations in life. We, therefore, pledge our unstinting support for these common goals that we see as necessary for us to overcome this tragedy, and together we express our determination to achieve them.