Economist.com | After the tsunami

Economist.com | After the tsunami
The rebuilding starts

Feb 3rd 2005 | BANGKOK
From The Economist print edition


Assistance has been generous: but it is not always being well spent

“IT IS not enough to do good; one must do it the right way.” The adage, although coined by a Victorian politician, would serve well as a motto for the relief effort following December's tsunami in the Indian Ocean. Five weeks after the waves killed some 300,000 people, and left millions more without food, homes or livelihoods, the global outpouring of money and sympathy is only just beginning to ebb. Governments, firms and individuals have given more than many aid agencies can spend, perhaps $6 billion in all. But the results of this generosity have not always lived up to expectations—and there are more pitfalls ahead.