When news reached the Netherlands that Indonesia, Sri Lanka
\nand Thailand had been hit by the tsunami, a team of foreign
\nministry relief aid specialists got together with embassy
\npersonnel in Jakarta to assess the needs of the victims and what
\nthe Netherlands could do to help them.<\/p>\n
The Netherlands asked the Red Cross, UN agencies and other
\ndevelopment organisations to deliver relief aid such as food,
\nmedicines, tents and blankets. In the weeks following the
\ntsunami, the Dutch government kept donating money to aid agencies
\nassisting the people in Aceh and Sri Lanka on the Netherlands'
\nbehalf. A total of 35 million euros was committed for first
\nrelief aid, (lokale munt\/dollar - wat kan ik het beste gebruiken,
\nUsha?].<\/p>\n
This enabled aid organisations to provide food and medicines,
\ntents and temporary housing, body bags, clean water and basic
\nsanitation facilities, and to clean up and repair the hospital in
\nBandah Aceh. UNICEF and other organisations received money for
\nchild protection, reunification of separated children and
\npsychosocial treatment.<\/p>\n
Picking up the thread as soon as possible is an important way
\nto deal with traumatic experiences. This is why the Netherlands
\nalso chose to allot funds for cleaning up and rebuilding schools,
\nso children could carry on with their daily lives. People of Aceh
\nwere hired to carry out most of the relief works, thus helping to
\nalleviate the unemployment brought on by disaster.<\/p>\n
In addition, the Dutch government made an airplane available
\nto transport relief goods, provided air traffic controllers for
\nthe airport of Bandah Aceh and donated material to rebuild some
\nof the 110 bridges that were destroyed by the tsunami.<\/p>\n
Instead of using separate Dutch aid channels, development
\nminister Agnes van Ardenne decided to hand funds directly over to
\norganisations such as UNICEF, Red Cross, and UNHCR. These
\norganisations possessed the expertise necessary to provide
\ninstant and efficient relief aid.<\/p>\n
Minister Van Ardenne visited Indonesia in January 2005 for a
\ndonor conference. In February, foreign minister Bernard Bot
\nvisited the Tsunami region, including Aceh, to express his
\ncondolences and to see how relief and reconstruction work was
\nbeing carried out.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/when-news-reached-the-netherlands-that-indonesia-sri-lanka-1447899208",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}