- Introduction by CORDAID
This joint report by Eye on Aceh and Cordaid aims to give an insight into a result of social capital mapping study commissioned by Cordaid and conducted by Eye on Aceh at thi end of 2006 in Ache. Although the outcomes of the social capital mapping are critical for Cordaid's work, Cordaid is keen on sharing the findings with other organisations and persons interested fpr leraning purposes.
Why a mapping of social capital?
After the Tsunami in December 2004 Cordaid, like many other organisations, struggled to develop an adequate response to the enormous needs in Aceh.
When the tsunami struck Aceh, years of conflict between the Indonesian government and the Gerekan Aceh Merdeka (GAM, Free Aceh Movement) had isolated the population and international organisations familiar with Acehnese society were hard to find.
Based on experiences in other countries Cordaid discussed at an early stage the importance of paying attention to the conflict setting in Aceh as part of their Tsunami response programme.
Cordaid choose to conduct a conflict/social capital mapping exercise on the assumption that emergency, relief and rehabilitation programmes in particular and developmental programmes in general cannot be considered as 'business as usual' in a conflict situation. Working under conflict conditions requires a suitable change in approach, assumptions and strategy by development practitioners. Cordaid tried to put into practice the lessons learned from Mary Anderson's impressive study "Do No Harm". Sister organisations in our CIDSE and Caritas networks showed great interest in this exercise and Cordaid decided to take the lead in this mission.