Difficult environments characterised by conflict: In both Sri Lanka and Indonesia the disastrous consequences of the tsunami came on top of the damage already inflicted by years of low-level conflict. The regions' medical and social infrastructure has been affected and the key players from local civil society are highly disorganized particularly when it comes to disability issues.

On an operational level: Difficulties accessing the affected areas constituted the main problem during the post-emergency phase (road and communications infrastructure destroyed, local health services disorganized). The mass movement of people into internal displaced people's camps made it all the more difficult to find and identify disabled people. Support for local hospitals was therefore supplemented with the creation of mobile units designed to reach out to disabled people. This was done with the support of local partners (organizations, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Social Affairs, pharmacies etc.)