This report reflects on the effectiveness of UNICEF‘s immediate response to the tsunami in Thailand and the process of transitioning toward mainstreamed programming work within three core areas: child protection, education and capacity building. In the wake of the tsunami, the UNICEF Thailand Country Office mobilized a range of activities supporting response in the affected provinces including key logistical support, health and nutrition assistance, water and sanitation, educational provision and psychosocial support. Rapid response was facilitated by deployment of staff into the field and use of innovative modalities such as cash transfers. With a strong nationally-led relief effort, UNICEF‘s responsibility with regard to the Core Commitments to Children soon focused more on monitoring wider social impact issues than on facilitating direct provision. This led to formulation of the "build back better" strategy that was informed by two principal drivers: 1) use of existing program approaches that were seen to provide relevant mechanisms to address issues of longer term relevance brought to the forefront by the tsunami; and 2) the conjunction of newly identified needs and unprecedented access to resources that provided the opportunity to create new models and extend approaches adapted from existing agendas.

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