Tsunami pledges may not be as generous as they seem
By wire services
Published January 14, 2005
UNITED NATIONS - In the three weeks since the Indian Ocean tsunami, the United Nations has credited more than 40 governments, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank with pledges of assistance valued at nearly $4-billion.
But hundreds of millions of dollars in those pledges had already been committed to development projects in the region. And as much as half of the total is for interest-free loans, which the United Nations traditionally does not count as humanitarian aid.
The tsunami relief effort illustrates how large pledges of aid have historically yielded far less cash than was promised. And it underscores why the United Nations - which asked for nearly $1-billion to fund its tsunami relief and reconstruction efforts over the next six months - remains concerned that money may not be available for relief efforts.
"I will not be surprised if we do not get all the money" pledged by governments, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan told reporters.
U.N. officials said their appeals after many natural disasters have fared badly. A U.N. request for money to respond to the devastation caused by a cycle of Caribbean storms, including Tropical Storm Jeanne in September, has been severely underfunded.
The United Nations asked for $37.4-million to help storm victims in Gonaives, Haiti, where more than 2,000 people died, but received $13.8-million. "In some situations ... we've got as little as 14 percent of the amount we need to respond," Annan said recently at a pledging conference in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Indonesia's next fight: malaria
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia - Health officials plan to go door to door and tent to tent with mosquito-killing spray guns beginning today to head off a threat that one expert says could kill 100,000 more people around the tsunami disaster zone: malaria.
The devastation and heavy rains are creating conditions for the largest area of mosquito breeding sites Indonesia has ever seen, said the head of the aid group anchoring the antimalaria campaign on Sumatra island. The pools of saltwater created by the Dec. 26 tsunami have been diluted by seasonal rains into a brackish water that mosquitoes love.
While the threat of cholera and dysentery outbreaks is diminishing by the day because clean water is increasingly getting to survivors, the danger of malaria and dengue fever epidemics is increasing, said Richard Allan, director of the Mentor Initiative, a public health group that fights malaria epidemics.
The death toll from the earthquake and tsunami has topped 157,000 across 11 countries after Indonesia added nearly 4,000 more to its tally. Allan warned that malaria could take an additional 100,000 lives if authorities don't act quickly.
Stars sign up for TV benefit Saturday
LOS ANGELES - Brad Pitt, Robert DeNiro, Andy Garcia and Hugh Grant will be among dozens of celebrities joining in an NBC Universal TV benefit for tsunami relief.
The program is scheduled to air live at 8 p.m. Saturday on NBC, Telemundo, Pax and various cable channels. Other stars announced Thursday include Lucy Liu, Josh Groban, Jay Leno, Natalie Portman, Nicolette Sheridan and Naomi Watts. Stevie Wonder, Meg Ryan, Clint Eastwood, Mary J. Blige and George Clooney were among previously announced participants.
Information from the Washington Post and Associated Press was used in this report.
