An quick and easy way to donate to victims of the horror of the Tsunamis- Page 3

[cabarethed]

Posted: 1/11/05 at 8:29pm

The company I work for is taking donations from everyone up till 1/18 and matching dollar for dollar. I'm glad I waited to donate so at least what I give is doubled.

[amasis]

Posted: 1/13/05 at 7:06pm

U.N. appoints PricewaterhouseCoopers to oversee tsunami funds

The U.N. humanitarian relief office has engaged accounting giant PricewaterhouseCoopers and put in place other measures to reassure governments and other donors that the billions pledged to the tsunami relief will be spent as promised. The move comes just as an inquiry committee has released dozens of internal documents detailing years of mismanagement in the Iraqi oil-for-food program, although U.N. relief officials insisted there is no connection. In fact, the organization indicated it never intended to hire an outside auditor for the relief
effort for tsunami survivors. PWC, which has offices throughout Asia, volunteered its services last week.

"It was an offer made by Pricewaterhouse, and we gratefully accepted," said Kevin Kennedy, a senior official with the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). "I know there is a fixation with oil for food. ... It's not connected." Officials in the United States, which has pledged $350 million for tsunami aid, welcomed the action.

Full article right here:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20050111-114349-4897r.htm Updated On: 1/13/05 at 07:06 PM

[son_of_a_gunn_25]

Posted: 3/14/05 at 12:58am

Hey amasis. how are things going in your neck of the world? I haven't heard anything about the rebuilding effort in a while so I thought I'd check to see if things are going well.

[amasis]

Posted: 3/14/05 at 2:27am

Thank you for asking, gunn. I have been pretty focused on what's happening inside the country, so I'm not exactly sure how Thailand, Sri Lanka, etc., are dealing with it. I heard a while back that in Thailand things are going quite smoothly, though.

The recovery effort is in progress, but it's pretty uneven. In some places, they're still cleaning up the wreckage (due to the difficulty of getting and maintaining the necessary equipment). Some of the displaced people have been moved to newly-constructed barracks, and some whose house weren't totally destroyed, or at least can find the foundation of their old homes and can prove ownership, etc., have returned to try to rebuild their homes; but many are still living in the camps. If you remember, the number of dead was astronomical. As for the numbers of displaced people, I think the latest data is at around 457,000 (for this country - not sure about the total in the region).

Schooling is starting to resume, but in some locations there are still shortages of teaching staff. In some places, they have electricity now. But again, some of the more remote areas can still only be reached by helicopters, and they're still dealing with the lack of basic facilities. I seem to be hearing a lot of complaints regarding 'lack of operating funds' from the local organizations on the field, so I wonder if it's still the old bottleneck of government bureaucracy slowing everything down. But the complaints that not enough money are being allocated for rebuilding (as opposed to emergency relief) have been directed at both local and foreign NGOs working on the ground.

The Indonesian government has set a deadline for the involvement of foreign troops and foreign aid groups - a move which I never quite understood - which I think is coming up at the end of March. I've heard many of the displaced people expressed apprehensions about this and I just hope the current government proves them wrong, meaning that they'll actually come through on their promises, but we'll have to see. This is under review, though, so it could change.

So, it's still all over the place. On a lighter note, I heard something today of a small wedding that took place in one of the camps. I put up my signature quote earlier this month in honor of things like that, actually. Those who lost their loved ones and whose lives got turned upside down will always have this as part of their lives. But you do see them moving on.

Sorry for the length. I'll stop now. Updated On: 3/14/05 at 02:27 AM

[QueenMuppet]

Posted: 3/14/05 at 8:36am

Don't you apologize for the length of your post, Amasis. Unfortunately, the tragedy is not really so much on the 'news' anymore, so any thought and insight I can get I really appreciate.

Without obviously having every piece of information on it I'm also confused about why the Indonesian government would want any foreign aid groups leave so quickly. I'm aware that there are a lot of politics involved and that some foreign troops (especially the American ones) have hit the news with regards to their 'real involvement' in Indonesia but as long as there's help needed I doubt the Indonesian government is in the position to send any aid groups home.

QM

Updated On: 3/14/05 at 08:36 AM

[amasis]

Posted: 3/14/05 at 11:05am

I wish I knew the real answer to that, QM.

Aceh, one of provinces that got hit the worst by the tsunami, used to be a closed area, because of the separatists movements and the fighting between them and the army that's been going on. When the government opened up the province and allowed foreign troops and aid groups to enter, they came under heavy criticisms from some factions (believe it or not) and that was when they set the deadline for March 26. The reasoning given was that, while we should open the borders in emergency situations, 3 months should be enough to get everything under control and transfer all relief and reconstruction burdens fully onto government's shoulders. While the ideals of being self-sufficient is great to strive for, I don't see evidence that they're fully prepared for it. Unfortunately.

The deadline is under review, though. I have a feeling that at least some groups will stay. Updated On: 3/14/05 at 11:05 AM

[amasis]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 6:55pm

Okay then, some more updates:

* The 'deadline' was indeed reviewed and then extended. Now the Indonesian government is expected to take over in 2 months' time. There are 300 aid groups working in the region right now, and the UN has said that its has been extremely complicated coordinating the efforts.

* Spain, Japan, and Germany began withdrawing their military contingents last week, mostly consisting of doctors and paramedics. The hospital ship USS Mercy has also left. Before departing from the Aceh province, the German armed forces handed over medical equipment to the main hospital in Banda Aceh, the Dr. Zainoel Abidin Hospital, worth about US$1.7 million.

*In the first week of April, Austrade, AusAID and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) will be conducting seminars in all major Australian cities "to give Australian companies a detailed understanding of reconstruction planning, funds disbursement, contract tendering arrangements, and which agencies are taking lead roles in projects" that are part of the Howard government's mostly yet-to-be delivered $1 billion tsunami aid package.

* Not so recent, but as of last month: Humanitarian assistance to tsunami-affected countries in the Indian Ocean totals US$6.28 billion, with Germany the largest contributor at US$683 million, according to the UN. However, the BBC recently published an article that there's a shortage of over US$4bn, in terms of pledges that have actually been honored.

From BBC News:
Governments around the world have been urged to honour their financial pledges to the countries worst-hit by the Indian Ocean tsunami.

The Asian Development Bank said there was a shortfall of more than $4bn (£2.1bn) promised for rebuilding India, Indonesia, the Maldives and Sri Lanka.

ADB president Haruhiko Kuroda said the world's attention must stay focused as work moved into reconstruction stage.

Nearly 300,000 people died in the 26 December earthquake and sea surges.

Many thousands more had their homes and livelihoods wrecked.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4361053.stm Updated On: 3/22/05 at 06:55 PM

[son_of_a_gunn_25]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 2:35am

Once again, thanks for keeping us updated Amasis. Like I have said before, it is so easy to forget what we do not see every day.

[QueenMuppet]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 6:57am

Thanks, Amasis.

I'm a bit shocked about the financial pleadges not being honoured by some governments... do we know which ones?

QM

[amasis]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 8:05am

I can probably find the exact statistics somewhere, although probably not today.

It's not really new, though. The amount of aid actually received for the Bam earthquake in Iran last year was a mere percentage of the amount of aid that had been originally pledged by the international community. Some of those survivors are still in temporary camps.

The projected time for tsunami reconstruction effort is a minimum of 5 years. This is going to be along struggle. Updated On: 3/22/05 at 08:05 AM

[QueenMuppet]

Posted: 4/6/05 at 8:59am

Bump.

There is a great article on the front page of the New York Times this morning called 'Where Tsunami Ravaged, Barely a Sign of Relief'. A very good read with some sad facts about the real victims not receiving a lot... for anyone who's interested. I'm glad The Times brought it all up again and put it on the front page.

QM