Jakarta, Indonesia (April 18,2006) – Save the Children is spending $156 million on its tsunami response efforts in Indonesia and has assisted 276,000 tsunami survivors while helping protect and educate children, train teachers and re-equip schools, among other response work.

 However, the agency has experienced difficulties in its construction program.

After an internal assessment, Save the Children uncovered substandard work in its construction programs in Aceh province and has moved quickly to remedy the problems. The agency temporarily suspended new construction, pending a thorough review.

Save the Children has spent $1 million to date constructing 798 new homes. Our own recent inspection of the homes has found that 612 require major reconstruction work and the remaining 186 homes require moderate or minor improvements. Construction is underway on 37 schools and these are also being assessed.

During the past month Save the Children representatives have met communities in the affected areas, local authorities and contractors. The agency also informed The Aceh and Nias Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency (BRR) about the problems it uncovered.

We are holding contractors to account for the quality of construction. We expect the contractors to rectify the problems and cover the bulk of the costs; and if required we will look at legal options. Where necessary the agency will cover any costs not covered by the contractors as we want as little disruption as possible to the children and families whom we are seeking to help.

Save the Children has worked in Aceh province for 30 years and remains committed to the long-term development of the province. We will tolerate nothing less than the most efficient and effective use of donated money to help children and their families.

To date, Save the Children has helped meet the immediate needs of some 276,000 children and adults who survived the tsunami in Indonesia. The agency is playing a major role in child protection, having led 10 agencies to register more than 2,000 children separated from their families after the tsunami.

In addition, we have delivered $1 million worth of textbooks and school supplies that benefited 60,000 children in 210 schools, trained 1,000 new teachers, supported scholarships for more than 2,000 students and provided support to help children overcome the traumatic impact of the tsunami.

Background: This statement updates a statement released on March 16th on construction problems encountered by Save the Children in Aceh province, Indonesia. Read Background Information – Earlier Statement Released in March

For additional information, contact:

• Save the Children U.S.: Mike Kiernan 202-261-4686,
  Cell: 202-460-0614 mkiernan@dc.savechildren.org
• Save the Children UK: Media Unit in UK on: + 44207 012 6841
• Save the Children in Indonesia: Jon Bugge: + 62 812 1088 702 jbugge@savechildren.or.id