'Response prevented deaths from disease'<\/p>\n
Reuters, United Nations<\/p>\n
The swift response to the Asian tsunami prevented a second wave
\nof deaths from disease and malnutrition but the task of
\nrebuilding is far from complete, a top UN official said exactly
\none month after the cataclysm.<\/p>\n
Jan Egeland, the emergency relief coordinator who played a
\ncentral role in organizing aid, on Wednesday took stock of the
\neffort since the Dec. 26 undersea earthquake and tidal waves
\nkilled more than 200,000 people in a dozen nations around the
\nIndian Ocean.<\/p>\n
Despite no roads, few airstrips and bad weather, \"we believe
\nwe succeeded in avoiding this second wave of death,\" Egeland told
\na news conference. \"It is remarkable.\"<\/p>\n
But Egeland said too many people still lived in tents and
\nsanitation and health care remained precarious, even if epidemics
\nwere not evident.<\/p>\n
\"There is no complacency here for anybody,\" Egeland said, \"We
\ndid save a lot of lives but we have not restored their
\nlivelihoods, restored ordinary life\" or their mental health.<\/p>\n
\"That is the big, big task ahead, and that will be even bigger
\nthan the emergency life-saving phase,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Egeland said there were still pockets where access was a
\nproblem in Indonesia's Aceh province and in Somalia. But he said
\na survey in Aceh and Sumatra provinces, the Indonesian areas
\nwhere killer waves did the most damage, showed no significant
\nrise in malnutrition.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday Indonesians were still pulling bodies from the
\nrubble. The government said over 90,000 people had been buried.<\/p>\n
Egeland was asked about American evangelists who are showering
\nvictims with gifts while proselytizing.<\/p>\n
\"We are very aware of sensitivities in several countries that
\nreligious organizations may be too quick in combining relief and
\nmissionary services,\" he said. \"Our position is that we should
\ndelink the two, especially in the emergency phase.\"<\/p>\n
He said some governments \"have raised general concerns with
\ninvolvement of Christian organizations being active in Muslim
\nareas\" but have not prohibited their relief work.<\/p>\n
Most of the credit for the aid, Egeland said, was due to local
\ncommunities and national governments in addition to humanitarian
\ngroups including UN agencies and the International Committee of
\nthe Red Cross, which alone raised US$1.2 billion in one month.<\/p>\n
The UN emergency relief appeal raised $390 million from
\ngovernments and private donors and another $250 million \"in the
\nmail\" to date.<\/p>\n
Governments, aid groups and private donors have pledged a
\ntotal of $7 billion so far in tsunami aid or future
\nreconstruction, but much of it has not yet materialized.<\/p>\n
Food was distributed to 1.2 million people while more than
\n500,000 people were being provided with clean water, Egeland
\nsaid.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/response-prevented-deaths-from-disease-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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