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