|
Spearheading the international effort to bring relief to the victims of last week's devastating Indian Ocean tsunami, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Thursday launched a $977 million flash appeal for emergency aid – by far the largest ever for a natural disaster and almost three times the previous record.
“As we grieve for the dead and pray for those still searching for loved ones, we have a duty to the survivors,” Mr. Annan told a meeting of world leaders in Jakarta, Indonesia, calling for a concerted effort to prevent a second wave of death from preventable causes due to polluted water, and a third wave of despair where people cannot recover their livelihoods, homes or communities.
“Although we were powerless to stop the tsunami, together we do have the power to stop those next waves,” he declared of the disaster that killed more than 150,000 people in a dozen countries, injured 500,000 more and left up to 5 million lacking basic services.
The appeal covers a six-month period for the humanitarian emergency needs of an estimated 5 million people in Indonesia, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, the Seychelles and Somalia. The sum is much less than the overall pledges of aid to both the UN and other organizations, for both immediate and longer-term operations such as reconstruction, which have already reached between $3 billion and $4 billion.
Mr. Annan stressed that this is the largest natural disaster the UN has had to respond in its 60 years of existence. He noted the daunting logistical constraints but said they were not insurmountable. “It is a race against time, but together with the host Governments, we are overcoming them,” he added. “Every hour, we are seeing more goods reaching those in need.” He praised cases of individual generosity. “Consider the six-year-old boy in Shenyang, China, who donated his life savings of $22,” he said. “Let us now show that we are committed for as long as it takes,” he said.
Those Belarusian organizations and individuals, who wish to support the UN relief operations in South Asia countries affected by the tsunami disaster, can deposit their donations (both in BLR and US$) to the bank account of the UN Office in Belarus. Purpose of payment should be indicated as “Donation to tsunami victims”.
UN Office in Belarus, UNN 102099485, account: 3021207010114 (Belarusian rubles), 3024207015002 (US$) in the branch ¹ 0111 of the Priorbank Ltd, code 228, Ìinsk, Varvasheni St, 42à (9.00-15.00 on Mondays-Thursdays and 9.00-13.00 on Fridays)
Source: http://www.un.minsk.by/en/news/belarus/06-01-05.html
|