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| January 11, 2005 |
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| Donor Nations Pressed To Turn Asia Tsunami Pledges Into Reality |
WASHINGTON - January 11, 2005. Pushed by unprecedented global sympathy for victims of Asia's tsunami disaster, donor countries convened under UN auspices Tuesday in Geneva to
try to ensure the world's pledges of aid find their way to those in need,
reports Agence France Presse.
As representatives from more than 80 countries and organizations gathered,
the UN's emergency relief coordinator Jan Egeland said the relief efforts
now underway showcased humanity at its best. So far, more than $8 billion
has been pledged worldwide for the tsunami relief effort. The task of the
conference is to firm up those government pledges, turning promise into reality, while at the same time seeking to better coordinate how, when and where the aid gets delivered on the ground.
The UN has so far won firm commitments of nearly $3 billion and Egeland
said he believed that, "for the first time in history, we will have a
flash appeal covered as it is launched." But aid agencies fear that as time goes on and the disaster starts to fall off the front pages, the
amount actually forthcoming will diminish.
Before the tsunami relief meeting, donor countries were also meeting on an
appeal launched last November for so-called "forgotten emergencies." They
range from the crisis in Sudan's troubled western region of Darfur to the fight against poverty as well as AIDS and other killer diseases. "Human
life has the same value everywhere," Egeland said, lamenting that it was
harder to summon international aid to help alleviate crises in Africa than
it was for the tsunami relief effort or a previous UN appeal on Iraq.
Agence France Presse notes in a separate piece that that government
creditors in the Paris Club are poised to agree a freeze of debt
repayments for Sri Lanka and Indonesia at a meeting Wednesday, but deeper
debt relief in the form of restructuring or refinancing is unlikely to be considered until later. A source at the Paris Club said the freeze on debt repayments would be applied to "the countries wanting one", meaning Indonesia, Sri Lanka and possibly the Seychelles islands. For other countries hit by the devastating tidal waves, such as India or Thailand,
the conditions for a freeze are too restrictive and might make it too
difficult or too costly to tap international debt markets in the future. For the Paris Club, action taken on Wednesday would only be "emergency measures", the source said. Eventual restructuring or refinancing would not to be considered until the IMF and the World Bank calculated the impact of the catastrophe. As a result, negotiations over deeper debt relief was unlikely to be addressed until the next Paris Club meeting in early March.
The Asian Wall Street Journal reports that Aburizal Bakrie, Indonesian
Coordinating Minister for the Economy, said that Indonesia's Western
creditors may let it freeze as much as $3.2 billion in debt repayments
through 2006 to help it cope with the impact earthquake and tsunami. The
payments affected would amount to more than a third of Indonesia's $8.8
billion in scheduled repayments over the next two years to the Paris Club
of creditor nations. Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda said he was seeking more relief from wealthy nations and urged more talks with the G-7 and Paris Club.
The Australian further writes that Australia is expected to argue strongly
against providing debt relief to tsunami-affected nations at the Paris
Club meeting. Prime Minister John Howard has consistently argued that
direct aid, such as the $1 billion package Australia has assembled for
Indonesia, is the most appropriate way of getting assistance to the point
of greatest need. Australia believes that before the Paris Club can agree
to suspend debt payments, it must first be shown that the debt burden is
unsustainable. Australia is also concerned that debt relief may set a
precedent for any nation affected by a natural disaster to seek to defer
repaying debts. Australia's stance will place it at odds with most of the
other 18 members of the Paris Club. Decisions of the Paris Club are made
by consensus, so Australia could potentially hold up a deal. But it is
unlikely to do so given that Australia's debt exposure in the region is
small.
In other news, Reuters reports that as cash donations pour in from around
the world for the victims of Asia's tsunami, fears are rife that
corruption will divert big chunks of the aid money before it reaches the
disaster zone. For Indonesia, ranked among the most corrupt countries in
the world last year by Transparency International, the influx is both a
lifeline for desperate victims and a temptation for unscrupulous
officials. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who took office in October
pledging to eradicate graft, has said he will keep a sharp eye on aid
distribution. The Minister for Social Welfare, Alwi Shihab, has told
reporters relief payments will be audited so as to avoid "damage by greedy hands". But analysts say the scale of the foreign assistance headed for Indonesia will put even the best intentions to the test. Corruption
watchdogs are already receiving scattered reports of problems with aid in Aceh, where officials have been accused of small-scale pilfering or
reselling of aid supplies.
The Associated Press meanwhile reports that the United Nations said Monday
it will use an outside accounting firm to help track the billions of
dollars pledged to help the victims of the tsunami in the Indian Ocean.
Price-Waterhouse-Coopers has offered to help create a financial tracking
system for the United Nations on a pro bono basis, said Kevin Kennedy, a
senior official in the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs. He said the accounting firm would be able to investigate credible
allegations of fraud, waste or abuse.
Reuters further reports that Japan will provide an extra $40 million
through its trust funds at the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank
to help with reconstruction in tsunami-hit nations, Finance Minister
Sadakazu Tanigaki said on Tuesday. The assistance, coming on top of up to
$500 million Japan has already pledged in grant aid to cope with the
damage from the Dec. 26 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed more than
150,000, will be split equally via the ADB and the World Bank.
Agence France Presse finally notes former US president Bill Clinton and
the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) announced Monday the creation
of a special fund to provide uncontaminated water to victims of the Asian tsunami disaster. "Our inquiries determined that in the weeks and months
ahead, more resources will be needed to provide clean water and adequate
sanitation both for survival and prevention of diseases," Clinton told
reporters. The money will be used by UNICEF and other agencies "to make
sure that we do everything we can to keep people alive and to prevent the
spread of disease," Clinton said.
Source: The World Bank |
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