The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) will start an emergency airlift on Sunday to carry urgently needed supplies to an initial 100,000 people in the Indonesian province of Aceh.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Mr Ruud Lubbers said the body would immediately provide shelter material for around one fifth of those in the area affected by the tsunami disaster, but that this was "just the start" of the operation.
"Their homes and entire towns and villages have been obliterated by the earthquake and tidal waves, so people are in desperate need of emergency shelter. UNHCR has extensive experience in refugee emergency response, so we are going to do everything we can as part of the overall UN effort," he said.
The airlift will take place from UNHCR warehouses in Dubai and Copenhagen and will fly over 400 tons of equipment into Jakarta.
From Jakarta, the materials are expected to be loaded onto C-130 aircraft and ships and then ferried into Aceh, the UNHCR said in a statement.
"UNHCR is planning to use ships to get shelter supplies and other aid to otherwise inaccessible areas of Aceh, but details are yet to be confirmed. An emergency team of 14 people, including logistics, telecommunications and field experts will be deploying to Aceh over the next few days to ensure the smooth delivery of relief material and coordinate UNHCR's activities there."
UNHCR is also redeploying equipment from other parts of Indonesia, including West Timor, to meet what it said were the extraordinary needs in Aceh province.
"In Sri Lanka, meanwhile, UNHCR is using its seven offices and some 100 staff across the country to continue deliveries of emergency relief supplies of plastic sheeting, plastic mats, cooking sets and clothing from its warehouses to the needy population in the war-affected areas and in the south.
"Supplies are being delivered to Colombo, Hambantota, Mallativu, Trincomalee and Jaffna. With one of the few in-country stockpiles of relief supplies in Sri Lanka, UNHCR was able to rapidly get humanitarian aid to some 20,000 people, filling an important stopgap until international aid began arriving."