World told to keep momemtum for tsunami recovery
World told to keep momemtum for tsunami recovery
Agence France-Presse, United Nations
Former U.S. president Bill Clinton, the UN special envoy for tsunami relief, urged the world on Thursday (Friday morning in Jakarta) to maintain the momentum for recovery in South Asian countries devastated by the deadly earthquake and tsunami last December.
"We need to keep up the momentum now, to tackle the difficult, longer term recovery phase," he told the UN Economic and Social Council here.
"We are still in the early months of the recovery process itself," he said.
As special envoy, Clinton has brought together senior officials from the UN, the World Bank, non-governmental organizations and the private sector both in the United States and Europe.
He recently toured the region to assess the recovery effort and the policy challenges that lie ahead.
He praised the UN and humanitarian groups involved in the herculean task of rebuilding the region and sought to allay fears that corruption would deter donors from continuing their assistance.
"I think anti-corruption measures are being vigorously embraced," he noted "This is the best effort that I have seen to be accountable."
"I can assure Americans that the hundreds of millions, maybe over US$1 billion they pledged, that we're making every effort to account for it," Clinton said in an interview with CNN. "And so will the countries involved. That it won't be spent until it can be effectively spent, but that it will be spent."
Clinton said one priority was for the world community to ensure that tsunami alert systems being set up in the region are adequately funded.
"We've got to get these early warning systems up. Thailand put one up. Other countries are working on them," the former president said. "They've agreed on compatible technology. But the world needs to make sure they're all financed and put up and put up quickly and that they work."
The massive quake measuring more than 9.0 on the Richter scale sent shockwaves across the Indian Ocean last Dec. 26, unleashing tsunamis speeding at up to 700 kilometers per hour in every direction.
A total of 226,000 people were killed or reported missing, according to the UN.
Overall, more than 1.1 million people have since been sheltered, more than 1.7 million people have received food aid and more than one million are being supplied with drinking water daily, it added.