Fuente : World Bank
http://www.worldbank.org

Indonesia, Others To Sign $250 Million Tsunami Grants Next Month: World Bank

/noticias.info/ World Bank Country Director for Indonesia Andrew Steer said that Indonesia and donor countries will sign grant agreements worth $250 million next month to help fund the reconstruction of Aceh and North Sumatra following the Dec 26 Tsunami disaster, reports AFX International.

Countries have committed $500 million under a multi-donor trust fund managed by the World Bank to help rebuild Aceh and North Sumatra. So far, the fund has $25 million available from the World Bank, Steer said. He also said it will take months after the signing of the $250 million grant agreements before the money could be actually disbursed into the trust fund, but that additional cash inflow is expected soon. “In the coming month we expect something like in the order of $160 million to be flowing in cash to the multi-donor trust fund,” Steer said. This would bring the total amount available under the trust fund to $185 million, in addition to the expected $250 million in grants to be signed next month.

The Associated Press meanwhile notes the United Nations' Humanitarian office said Wednesday that governments and individuals have pledged more than $10 billion for tsunami victims. Even though the contributions have far outstripped giving for previous disasters, more money is needed as the emphasis shifts from relief to reconstruction, said Elisabeth Byrs, spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Overall, the United Nations estimates that governments have pledged $5.8 billion to UN and non-UN programs, Byrs said. Of that amount, governments have already given $2.8 billion. The UN estimate for overall private donations to charities and the United Nations is $4.5 billion, much higher than previous estimates, she added. The UN is asking for an additional $5 billion for its long-term recovery plan, which it says could take between five years and a decade.

Agence France Presse further writes that former US president Bill Clinton, the United Nations' special envoy for tsunami relief, made an appeal Wednesday for continued aid to Southeast Asia, nearly six months after it was ravaged by the tsunami. He noted, in particular, that hundreds of thousands remain homeless and thousands of schools must be rebuilt. Among the priorities, he said, are establishing an early-warning system to alert the public in future emergencies and creating a reporting system to ensure that donations are being used as intended.

Dow Jones also reports that the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is to formally launch the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System this week to prevent a repeat of last year's catastrophe, approving an action plan and installing a group to run the system. A special oceanographic commission is to formally launch the alert system during its 10-day meeting in Paris. Work has already begun on the system, which is expected to be fully operational by July 2006. It will detect undersea earthquakes and broadcast warnings to coastal communities via seismographic networks in the region, real time sea-level gauges and deep-sea ocean pressure sensors.

The Associated Press adds that the UNESCO is expected to name a board of governors for the system that would include representatives of 27 Indian Ocean countries, officials said. "It's very important that the systems are owned by member states, by the countries that are affected. This is a precondition," said Patricio Bernal, Executive Secretary of UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission.

Agence France Presse finally reports that Sri Lanka is on the verge of clinching a deal with Tamil Tiger rebels on sharing foreign aid for post-tsunami reconstruction, official sources said Thursday, as Norway kept up shuttle diplomacy to save the faltering peace process. Under the deal, the Colombo government and the Tigers would jointly handle billions of dollars in foreign aid for survivors of the December 26 tsunami. Most of the destruction was in the island's embattled north and east, much of which is dominated by the Tigers. Reuters adds that that Sri Lanka's parliament will on Friday debate a long-awaited plan to share tsunami aid with Tamil Tiger rebels, the government said. notas_de_prensa_archivo