$500m pledged to disaster
2004-12-30 22:21
New York - About $500m has been pledged for victims of the earthquake-tsunami disaster in Southeast Asia, including a $250m commitment from the World Bank, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Thursday.
Annan told reporters he was "satisfied" with the response by world governments, but stressed that UN resources were stretched thin and long-term aid was needed.
"More than 30 countries have stepped forward to help as have millions of individuals from around the world," Annan told reporters. "I am satisfied with the response so far. The only thing I want to stress is that we are in this for the long term."
Annan said the disaster was so big that no one country or agency could deal with it alone.
"This is an unprecedented global catastrophe and it requires an unprecedented global response," he said. "Over the past few days it has registered deeply in the consciousness and conscience of the world as we seek to grasp the speed, the force and magnitude with which it happened. But we must also remain committed for the longer term. We know that the impact will be felt for a long time."
Biggest relief effort ever
At least 115 000 are dead in the region, half a million injured, and one million displaced, Annan said. At least five million people are in need of immediate assistance.
"We need to bring in additional people to work with us and of course not only are we going to be stretched in terms of manpower and human resources, we are also going to be stretched financially and technically."
The secretary-general said he hoped contributions to world development would not be diverted to relief funds for the quake disaster.
"We hope that the response will be sustained across the board and it won't be robbing Peter to pay Paul," he said.
On Monday, UN humanitarian chief Jan Egeland said the catastrophe in the Indian Ocean would require the biggest relief effort the world has seen. He also criticised what he called low levels of aid to the developing world by rich nations.
"We were more generous when we were less rich, many of the rich countries," he said. "And it is beyond me, why are we so stingy, really. ... Even Christmas time should remind many Western countries at least how rich we have become."
One measure by the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development shows that none of the world's richest countries donated even 1% of its gross national income. The highest, as of April, was Norway, at 0.92%; the lowest was the United States, at 0.14%.
- AP