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US groups spend 42 percent of tsunami aid: report
WASHINGTON - US relief groups have spent about 42 percent of the $1.78 billion raised from private donations to aid victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami, according to a report released on Tuesday.InterAction, an umbrella group representing 165 US-based aid organizations, said spending levels in the nine months following the Dec. 26 tsunami reflected the fact that many projects were only in the first year of multiyear commitments. âThe recovery effort is one thatâs going to require three to five years at a minimum, and the agencies that are going to stay the course have to extend their funds in a way calculated to allow them to complete the work,â said Jim Bishop, InterActionâs director of humanitarian policy and practice. But the report also attributed spending delays to the uneven pace of recovery from the deadly earthquake and waves that killed some 220,000 people and devastated Indian Ocean coastal communities from Somalia to Indonesia. âIn several nations the capacity of the local authorities and civil society to engage in rehabilitation was undercut by high loss of life among civil servants and community leaders, as well as by massive destruction of transport links and vital infrastructure,â it said. âDelays in reaching some key policy decisions, particularly regarding land use in the most affected areas, inhibited permanent resettlement activities,â the report added. It did not specify countries or regions.
Posted by: Steve White 2005-12-21 |
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