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This paper investigates the role of Islamic faith‐based organisations (FBOs) in Indonesia and examines the way in which their disaster recovery aid can be successful or less successful depending on social capital formation in communities affected by a disaster. The paper argues that Islamic FBOs play a prominent role in disaster‐affected communities by building new social capital or strengthening existing social capital. Failure to do so may affect a community's recovery and its long‐term resilience. Applying a framework that considers three types of social capital—bonding, bridging, and linking—from a comparative perspective, the paper discusses two cases of disaster recovery: one following the earthquake that struck Aceh in 2013; and the other after the Mount Kelud volcanic eruptions in East Java in 2014. In both instances, the findings highlight the importance of the village facilitator, cultural sensitivity, and understanding of local indigenous and religious practices for successful disaster recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the interface between human rights and humanitarian action in the context of the conflict and tsunami in Aceh, Indonesia, between 1998 and 2007. It looks at the challenges international humanitarian non-governmental organisations (NGOs) faced as they engaged in human rights work in the conflict period and in conflict-related activities in the post-tsunami period. The paper argues that many large NGOs may have compromised what some would hold to be essential principles for humanitarian action because of domestic political concerns, donor restrictions and resistance among certain NGO chiefs. In contrast with the pre-tsunami period, in which NGOs worked for years amid military operations, in the post-tsunami period NGOs were decidedly apolitical, neglecting the conflict in their tsunami response-despite significant developments that permitted greater political engagement in Aceh's post-conflict transformation. The evidence suggests that NGOs are challenged in contextualising humanitarian responses and that there is a need to underscore donor flexibility and independence in humanitarian action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In August 2005, after the devastating tsunami in the Indian Ocean Basin, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the cessation of hostilities was signed by Aceh's longstanding adversaries—the Government of Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM). The tsunami was a major catalyst for ‘disaster diplomacy’—international political pressure, which, this paper argues, was an important ingredient in creating conditions for the MoU, although the situation within Aceh also shaped the peace process. Based on interviews conducted in 2006 and 2007 with government officials, GAM representatives and fighters, and non-governmental organization staff in Aceh, this paper finds that assistance for tsunami survivors far exceeds that available for conflict survivors and ex-combatants. The formation of these two solitudes—the tsunami-affected and the conflict-affected—compounds challenges for sustaining peace in Aceh. This research points to an enduring lack of livelihoods for former fighters and conflict victims that may threaten a sustainable peace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami brought Aceh's long-drawn separatist conflict back to international attention. Yet, the precise way in which the different aspects of the conflict entangled with resource-related grievances have remained poorly understood. Taking a political ecology approach, this paper sets out to understand the role of natural resource grievances within the complex and shifting set of mutually implicated factors leading to and sustaining the conflict from the early days of Indonesia's independence. The paper argues that the management of Aceh's natural resources – especially the rich gas and oil reserves – was not the sole or primary causal factor. Rather, state managed exploitation of natural resources had a demonstration effect, exemplifying other grievances and supporting the articulation of a separatist discourse naturalizing ‘Acehnese’ conceptualizations of resource entitlement. Comparing Aceh with other separatist conflicts, the paper suggests that, as conflict unfolds at the intersection of a shifting set of concerns, it is increasingly difficult to separate the underlying issues of identity, resource entitlements and human rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, on the northern end of Sumatra, Indonesia, was the region that was most damaged by the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004. Rehabilitation and reconstruction are well underway. This paper discusses likely threats to the economy of Aceh with the end of the construction boom in 2009 and the policy actions that need to be adopted to facilitate a smooth transition from the boom to a normal, rapidly-growing, sustainable economy. Key recommendations are that the forces causing a high-cost economy must be kept under control by capping provincial minimum wage rates and by more effectively utilising the aid funds. Immediate action is needed in the areas of Aceh that were little damaged by the tsunami and are therefore receiving little assistance. Appropriate policies affecting the supply of labour for construction, both from inside and outside of the province, are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the pilot case of Dutch technical and financial assistance to the provincial planning board in Indonesia's most western Special Territory of Aceh. With specific reference to the two districts of Aceh Utara and Aceh Tengah, the picture of dependency relationships is sketched for rural peripheries in the Third World. Development planning efforts have not successfully addressed persistent problems, either because they were based upon urban-biased policy prescriptions wrongly transferred from the northern hemisphere, or because rational-comprehensive planning procedures were too arbitrarily blueprinted. Focusing upon the latter misapplication, the paper presents a practical working procedure for managing, through five stages, a multi-annual and rationalizing exercise, such as Dutch assistance to improving regional planning methods employed by low-level administrative units in peripheral rural regions. There follows a critical review of nine years of Dutch regional planning assistance by comparing theory and practice of three approaches applied to the two districts of Aceh Utara/Tengah. The Dutch lessons learned underline inter-sectoral programme preparation, institutionalization and training components. A 6-7 years working procedure for future foreign-assisted district planning projects is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 26 December 2004 tsunami disaster around the Indian Ocean provided an opportunity to see if decades of knowledge and experience on post-disaster settlement and shelter could be applied to match the tagline which many groups gave to the post-tsunami reconstruction: ‘build back better’ (or ‘building back better’). This paper uses evidence from field work completed on implementing settlement and shelter in post-tsunami Aceh and Sri Lanka to examine whether or not the theory and practice of ‘build back better’ were witnessed. Focusing on settlement and shelter, four areas are examined: (i) safety, security, and livelihoods; (ii) how post-disaster settlement and shelter could have an improved connection with permanent housing and communities (the ‘transition to what?’ question); (iii) fairness and equity; and (iv) connecting relief and development by tackling root causes of vulnerability. Based on the field work, addressing these four areas is suggested as how ‘build back better’ could be implemented. Recommendations are 1.Community involvement is essential, but that does not necessarily mean community control. 2.Organizations involved in implementing transitional settlement and shelter need to consider their capacity and links to other sectors. 3.Thinking ahead is necessary by integrating relief and development through long-term planning and disaster risk reduction. Overall, ‘building back safer’ might be a preferable tagline to ‘building back better’ because ‘better’ has multiple interpretations, many of which caused further problems, whereas ‘safer’ provides a clearer goal on which to focus for post-disaster settlement and shelter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Indonesian military sees itself as the guarantor of national unity, the state's last line of defence against separatist movements. This paper argues that the military's methods for maintaining national unity have been counterproductive. Its counter-insurgency wars in Aceh and Papua have exacerbated the sense of alienation from Indonesia that the people in these provinces have felt. In this post-Suharto era of political reform, the military has been unable to recognise that its old methods have failed, even after its obvious failure in East Timor, whose people, after living under a 24-year military occupation, rejected continued integration with Indonesia in a referendum in 1999. The fact that the politicians in the legislative and executive branches of the state have tended to encourage the military to persist with its old methods suggests that the military by itself should not be faulted. Only political resolutions, such as the Helsinki agreement for ending the conflict in Aceh – an agreement that resulted more from the devastation of the December 2004 tsunami than from the Indonesian military's counter-insurgency warfare – offer any guarantee of national unity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cash for work (CFW) programmes are utilised in various disaster and emergency contexts and were a prominent component of the tsunami response in Aceh province, Indonesia. This paper describes Mercy Corps' CFW programme, discusses CFW implementation experiences and provides key recommendations for similar programmes in future emergencies. For the majority of CFW participants and their households, CFW was the only source of household income and 93 per cent of household incomes were attributable to it. The CFW programme empowered displaced populations to return to their communities; 91 per cent of participants indicated that CFW facilitated their return. Other reported psychosocial benefits included providing productive activities and giving communities an opportunity to work together. Mercy Corps' experience in Aceh demonstrates that cash disbursements can be safely delivered in a widespread manner in emergencies, and that when implemented on a short-term basis, can have positive impacts at the individual and community level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Interpretation of various exploration data, in particular geochemical prospecting, offers a powerful and rapid assessment of grass‐root projects in a green‐field terrain. Here, we present an example of the Collins epithermal prospect in Aceh Province, Indonesia. In this area, the Au+ base‐metal‐bearing sheeted quartz veins (individually mostly 2–4 cm wide), which are controlled by a 250 m wide by 800 m long NNE‐trending structural corridor within Paleogene sandstone and volcanic rocks, are the product of two main stages of deposition. Stage I formed veins with a sliver of cryptocrystalline quartz wall zone followed by an inner zone of comb quartz with interstitial rhombic adularia that terminates in open space. Stage I or main‐stage sulfide mineralization consisting of early galena + sphalerite and later chalcopyrite occurs with the quartz + adularia. Small amounts of galena also occur in the wall zone. Stage II mineralization brecciated Stage I veins and overprinted them with silicification characterized by vuggy texture. Mineralization associated with this episode consists of earlier chalcopyrite + sphalerite + tennantite–tetrahedrite and later, vug‐filling Au–Ag alloy (Ag0.37–0.41Au0.62–0.59). The above mineralized veins are successively flanked by silicic selvages, an illite + chlorite + pyrite ± kaolinite zone and a chlorite + epidote + carbonate + pyrite zone. Local supergene alteration induced replacement of galena by plumbogummite and anglesite and chalcopyrite by covellite. Data from fluid inclusion microthermometry in quartz indicated that the inner zone of Stage I veins formed from fluids with a 2.3 wt% salinity (0.5–3.3 wt% NaCl equivalent), at 174°C (155–211°C). Combining these physico‐chemical parameters with the mineral assemblage, the mineralization occurred under a reduced environment. Rock and soil assays indicate that elevated Au concentrations (up to 16.5 ppm over 1 m) occur along northeast‐trending zones and show a strong correlation with Pb, while Cu (up to 2.58% over 1 m), Zn, As, Sb, and Mo anomalies lie mostly at the periphery. The high‐grade mineralized veins correlate with moderate to high resistivity and chargeability zones, and the pseudosections of such geophysical signals are interpreted as reflecting coalesced or enlarged veins at depth, or inclined veins in other localities. The intermediate sulfidation affinity for Collins points to potential mineralization at depth as well as preservation of Au‐rich and sulfide‐poor zones in the less eroded areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY Post-conflict reconstruction programs increasingly include components designed to strengthen the performance of the public service and to support public sector reform. Although there is a growing body of literature on the relationship between public administration, and peace and development, there have been few case studies of donor efforts to strengthen public administration as part of post-conflict reconstruction. This study examines efforts to strengthen the civil service in Aceh, Indonesia, following the province's first post-conflict elections in 2006. It examines the impact of a donor-funded program designed to assist Aceh's first post-conflict administration (2007-2012) to reform its personnel management practices. The case study sheds light on weaknesses in current donor approaches to public administration reform in post-conflict situations. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of the post-tsunami reconstruction effort in Aceh, international labour movement organizations 'jumped scale' in an attempt to revitalize a moribund local labour movement. This article provides a close analysis of the four internationally sponsored trade union building projects undertaken as part of that process. This unique intervention sheds light on the crucial role of local context and the extent to which the principles of international solidarity and the pragmatics of trade union diplomacy are mediated through money, institutions, individuals and day-to-day activities. The Aceh case underscores the importance of contingency and the agency of individuals in shaping an international intervention of this kind. In doing so it demonstrates how circuits of labour activism can be affected by constraints and opportunities unrelated to trade union politics or the relations of production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tremendous loss of life and assets resulting from the 2004 tsunami dealt a devastating blow to the coastal communities of Aceh Province, Indonesia. An assessment of the fishing fleet structure pre- and post-tsunami, including associated pattern in boat aid, in 15 coastal communities was conducted and compared with data on boat relief efforts over 17 districts of the Province. Aid was found to be not proportionally allocated to losses incurred by communities and was in many cases below what could be seen as a trend toward overcapacity. The distribution of aid appeared to be done without consideration of the former structure of the fleet, which changed significantly over time (pre- and post-tsunami), and resulted in a new fleet of reduced diversity with a strong focus on the smaller boat categories. If this situation perpetuates after the initial post-disaster period, it may further exacerbate the pre-existing economic and geographic marginalisation of some remote communities, and reduce the capacities of the fleets to diversify and develop multi-species harvesting strategies; thus, increasing the risk of ecologically unsustainable exploitation in near shore areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Popular movements in Aceh and Papua seeking separation from Indonesia must be understood in the context of earlier nationalist movements in history, including Indonesia's own movement for independence from the Netherlands. Movements in Aceh and Papua have built a sense of identity, considering themselves to be ‘notion-states’ even if they are not yet nation-states. This process parallels Indonesian identity formation in the early twentieth century. Aceh originally combined local, Indonesian and Islamic identities, but intrusion by central government institutions sparked a defensive nationalist reaction, which was stimulated further by uneven economic development and by repressive tactics by the centre. Papua was incorporated into Indonesia by means that led local people to believe they had been denied their right to self-determination, spurring a historical sense of grievance and a collective identity of shared suffering much like that in Aceh. By the end of Sukarno's Guided Democracy and Suharto's New Order, both territories had passed a point of no return in their nationalism. Repressive tactics have failed to contain aspirations for independence; a new approach based on dialogue is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on condition of Acehnese refugees in post-tsunami Malaysia. It is highly hypocritical for the Malaysian government, on the one hand to send relief and aid to Aceh, Indonesia in the wake of the tsunami while on the other hand arrest, detain and deport Acehnese refugees back to Aceh. The tsunami struck Aceh just six days before the Malaysian government's planned crackdown on illegal immigrants. In the weeks leading up to the crackdown, many lost their jobs as employers became increasingly nervous about being arrested for employing those without official work permits.