Clean water, school are priority: UNICEF

Clean water, school are priority: UNICEF

School construction, clean water and sanitation are the top
tasks remaining in the recovery from the tsunami that ripped
across southern Asia last year, a United Nations Children's Fund
(UNICEF) official said in Tokyo on Friday.

Toshiyuki Niwa, the deputy executive director of the UN's
children organization, told reporters that the emergency phase in
the aftermath of the disaster was over, but the region has far to
go to fully recover.

"We are at the turning point to transition to recovery," Niwa
said, calling the emergency response to the tsunami six months
ago a complete success.

Urgent needs, however, remain. Hundreds of temporary schools
have been built across the disaster zone, for example, but the
region still needs more schools and teacher training centers.

Water quality is also a continuing concern. Many wells in
affected areas have been contaminated by salt water and other
impurities, and alternative sources have to be developed.

"Sanitation is the biggest problem in ... camps. It was very
nicely done, but more work is needed," Niwa said.

Some 178,000 people were killed when a tsunami roared across
southern Asia on Dec. 26, wiping out large swaths of Indonesia,
Sri Lanka, Thailand and other countries. Another 50,000 are still
missing.

UNICEF has received some US$522 million in aid so far for
tsunami response.

So far, 1.1 million children have been vaccinated against
measles, 1 million children have received school supplies, and
more than 550,000 people have been provided with access to
adequate sanitation facilities, the organization said. -- AP