Annan launches billion dollar appeal for tsunami aid

United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, has launched a billion dollar appeal for emergency aid for the Asian Tsunami disaster.

Mr Annan's appeal, the largest ever on record for a natural disaster, is almost three times the amount of the previous record of $350 million for the earthquake in Bam, Iran, a year ago.

Addressing a group of world leaders, gathered at the Tsunami Summit meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, the UN Secretary General said: "We have a duty to the survivors". He called for a concerted effort in order to prevent more deaths in the affected regions from causes such as polluted water, and also to help rebuild homes and communities and restore people's livelihoods.

"Although we were powerless to stop the tsunami, together we do have the power to stop those next waves".

The appeal will provide for the humanitarian emergency needs of an estimated five million people in Indonesia, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, the Seychelles and Somalia over a six-month period.

The sum is considerably less than the overall aid pledges already made to both the UN and other organisations for both immediate and longer-term operations, such as reconstruction. These have reached between $3 and $4 billion.

However, Mr Annan said that the appeal provided for a specific set of programmes, which could start immediately. Sectors covered for the next six months include: $229 million for food and agriculture, $172 million for health care, $61 million for water and sanitation, $222 million for shelter and other urgent non-food items and $110 million for the early restoration of livelihoods.

The Asian Tsunami was the worst natural disaster the UN has had to deal with in its 60 year existence, but Mr Annan said that although there were logistical constraints, they were not insurmountable. It was, he said, "a race against time" in which every hour saw more goods reaching those in need.

Mr Annan concluded: "The past eleven days have been among the darkest in our lifetime, but they have also allowed us to see a new kind of light. We have seen the world coming together. We have seen a response based, not on our differences, but on what unites us. We have seen an opportunity to heal old wounds and long-running conflicts. Let us now show that we are committed for as long as it takes."

(KMcA/SP)