The South Asian tsunami caused great damage to cultural heritage in many parts of the world. In recognition of this, UNESCO has set up a management committee to respond. Sri Lanka’s cultural heritage received the greatest damage, with over 50 public and school libraries damaged or destroyed by the flooding that wreaked havoc across the country and cost thousands of lives. The Sri Lanka Management Committee for Libraries, Information Services and Archives has been established in an effort to deal with this, and other trauma associated with the disaster. The International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) is helping the committee disseminate the numerous appeals for help. Meanwhile, the ICCROM list-serve has provided an evaluation of damage to cultural property in the 12 countries afflicted by the tsunami. The Management committee comprises representatives from the National Library and Documentation Services Board, the Department of National Archives, Sri Lanka Library Association, the National Institute for Library and Information Sciences, National Science Foundation, from the Ministries of Culture, Education & Higher Education and from UNESCO and IFLA. In draft already are a Constitution, Objectives and an Action Plan. The primary aim will be to rehabilitate libraries, archives and information services destroyed or damaged by the tsunami after completion of a survey of the damage. This is now progressing well, despite the many difficulties occasioned by damaged roads and missing bridges and debris everywhere and more recently flooding from the monsoon rains. As damage from the tsunami is assessed, it becomes apparent that the ramifications go beyond infrastructure. In catastrophes of this nature, there is an important socio-psychological and socio-cultural need for local communities and individuals to see and feel that the familiar environments with which they identify are not totally wiped out. Children are especially traumatised by such events, and art projects are being designed for them The arts can play a valuable role in giving back a sense of community solidarity and healing, whilst also providing a suitable medium in which to explore emotions and feelings surrounding the event. A teaching kit on risk preparedness, prepared by ICCROM with UNESCO, will be distributed in 2005. The World Conference on Disaster Reduction in Kobe, Japan, in January 2005 has also produced a report on Cultural Heritage Risk Management. For more information, CLICK HERE.