Introduction
The Dec. 26 tsunami that hit Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Maldives, Malaysia, Burma, Seychelles, and Somalia left left 176,260 people dead; 12,773 missing; and more than 1 million displaced.
Two weeks after the disaster, governments around the world pledged US$1.2 billion to assist the nine countries worst hit by tsunami. A week later, the amount committed for tsunami relief jumped to almost US$4 billion. By April, according to various news reports, donors had pledged US$6.4 billion.
Meanwhile, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) of the United Nations (UN) reported that as of 8 June 2005, private and official donors have already pledged a total of US$4.2 billion for the tsunami victims. But of this amount, 33% or US$1.4 billion is still considered “uncommitted pledges,” which represent the balance of donors’ original pledges not yet committed.
The bulk of total pledges are comprised of private donors with 34%, followed by the world’s traditional leading bilateral donors – Japan (18%) and the US (5%). Note, however, that while Japan has already committed or contributed all of its original pledge (US$502.6 million), the US still has 59% of its original pledge (US$352.5 million) uncommitted.
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Table 1
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Tsunami impact at a glance
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| Country |
Dead |
Missing |
Displaced |
Economic losses |
| Indonesia |
128,515 |
- |
513,278 |
$2.6 billion |
| Sri Lanka |
31,299 |
4,100 |
516,130 |
$0.5 billion |
| India |
10,672 |
5,711 |
- |
$6.5 billion |
| Thailand |
5,413 |
2,932 |
58,550 |
$5.4 billion |
| Others |
361 |
30 |
37,868 |
- |
| Total |
176,260 |
12,773 |
1,125,826 |
$15 billion |
| Others include Burma, Malaysia, Maldives, Seychelles, and Somalia | ||||
| Hyphen (-) means no data available | ||||
| Sources: United Nations, Citigroup | ||||
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Table 2
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Tsunami donors (As of 8June 2005)
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| Amount in thousand dollars | ||||
| Donor |
Total pledges |
Commitments/ |
Uncommitted |
Uncommitted as |
|
Contributions |
pledges |
% of total pledges |
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| Private |
1,036,050.7 |
982,950.7 |
53,100.0 |
5% |
| Japan |
502,579.9 |
502,579.9 |
0 |
0% |
| US |
352,520.0 |
142,873.9 |
209,646.1 |
59% |
| UK |
148,114.1 |
135,883.0 |
12,231.1 |
8% |
| Germany |
107,858.0 |
105,174.3 |
2,683.7 |
2% |
| EC |
168,017.2 |
87,842.9 |
80,174.3 |
48% |
| Norway |
79,289.4 |
79,289.4 |
0 |
0% |
| Canada |
216,480.0 |
68,134.6 |
148,345.4 |
69% |
| Italy |
67,688.3 |
66,592.9 |
1,095.4 |
2% |
| China |
64,273.8 |
62,673.8 |
1,600.0 |
2% |
| France |
87,977.0 |
59,698.7 |
28,278.3 |
32% |
| Netherlands |
44,906.6 |
44,906.6 |
0 |
0% |
| Denmark |
43,689.6 |
43,689.6 |
0 |
0% |
| UAE |
41,659.8 |
41,379.8 |
280.0 |
1% |
| Sweden |
41,176.7 |
34,710.6 |
6,466.1 |
16% |
| Greece |
32,283.4 |
32,283.4 |
0 |
0% |
| Australia |
43,592.5 |
31,164.2 |
12,428.3 |
29% |
| Finland |
29,273.6 |
29,123.7 |
149.9 |
1% |
| Qatar |
25,000.0 |
25,000.0 |
0 |
0% |
| Switzerland |
24,419.4 |
24,419.4 |
0 |
0% |
| Others |
1,092,275.3 |
252,245.6 |
840,029.7 |
77% |
| Total |
4,249,125.3 |
2,852,617.0 |
1,396,508.3 |
33% |
| Source: United Nations (UN) - Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) | ||||
While described as one of the world’s largest relief operations ever, the total amount pledged for the tsunami victims still falls way below of the estimated total cost of reconstruction, which is pegged at around US$12.5 billion. (The total economic losses, meanwhile, is estimated at US$15 billion for India, Sri, Lanka, Indonesia, and Thailand)
But more than falling short of the actual needed amount for relief and rehabilitation, aid donors are also well knownfor falling short of their commitment. Critics cite the case of Iran, where an earthquake killed 30,000 people in 2003. Of the US$1.1 billion in aid pledged by donors, onlya paltry US$17 million in assistance (or 1.6% of the total pledge) was actually released. Another recent example is Afghanistan, where donors pledged US$2 billion in 2002 to rebuild the war torn country but actual assistance only reached 4% (US$90 million) of the said amount, according to Afghan officials.
Aside from fulfilling aid donors’ monetary promises, a number of equally important issues confront the global relief effort to help the tsunami-affected countries. One is the type of assistance that donors bring to the victims. In Sri Lanka, for example, the Time magazine reported that thousands of thick, insulated, windowless tents designed for cold weather were distributed by some international aid agencies. In its statement for the Donor Forum organized by the Sri Lankan government last 16-17 May 2005, MONLAR said that “relief is being dumped hurriedly, without proper consideration of the people’s needs and desires or of the problems of poverty and, in some cases, conflict in which they were living even before the tsunami.”
Corporate and political interests have taken over the humanitarian agenda of the tsunami relief campaign, thus bringing in assistance that disaster victims do not really need, and in some cases, even diverting funds away from them. Sydney-based Aidwatch noted that Prime Minister John Howard is using the Australia-Indonesia Partnership for Reconstruction and Development (AIPRD) for political expedience. While government implies that the US$1 billion funds for AIPRD is for tsunami relief, particularly in Aceh, Aidwatch observed that less than half the money is actually allocated for tsunami relief. Many of the areas to be funded through the AIPRD have already been identified by the Foreign Ministry even before the tsunami disaster. Aidwatch argued that this indicates “Australia’s response was not geared particularly toward the tsunami” and it is using the bilateral agreement with Australia “to achieve a number of strategic aims it had already developed and was implementing long before the tsunami struck.”
On the other hand, in Sri Lanka, MONLAR claimed that decision-making for the tsunami relief operation is dominated by the extra-governmental body TAFREN, which is composed of leaders from the business sector that have interests in the tourism and construction industries. Not surprisingly, reconstruction in Sri Lanka has focused on building superhighways, large ports, and modern townships, as well as old infrastructure projects like dams and power plants.
Another issue hampering global relief and rehabilitation efforts for tsunami-hit countries is corruption. With 34% of total amount committed/contributed for tsunami victims coming from private contributors and considering the magnitude of the tragedy, it becomes all the more important to ensure that aid money and other forms of assistance go tothe victims. Time magazine noted that of the major donors, only Japan and Saudi Arabia have delivered cash directly to governments while others, especially private relief groups, have deliberately bypassed local and national governments out of distrust. This is because the countries hardest hit by the tsunami, namely Indonesia and Sri Lanka, are not exactly role models of transparency and good governance. Indonesia, for instance, is the world’s fifth most corrupt country based on a Transparency International survey.
In Aceh, it was reported that all building contracts have been awarded to state companies without public tendering. Jakarta officials justify it by arguing that tendering the projects would slow down the process of rehabilitation, which the people could not afford under a time of disaster. But critics fear that the bureaucracy may abuse the process. It also does not help that manyof the state-owned companies which have cornered the contracts are heavily indebted and badly managed.
Complicating the situation is the on-going conflict in some of the countries affected by the tsunami, in particular Sri Lanka and Aceh in Indonesia. In Sri Lanka, reconstruction and rehabilitation are being slowed down as some parties in the government oppose plans to sign an agreement with Tamil rebels on post-tsunami aid distribution. Just last 7 June 2005, the People’s Liberation Front, in a statement to Parliament, warned that the proposed mechanism for aid distribution in areas controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) would lead to the recognition of separate states for the rebels.
This edition of the Reality Check tackles these pressing issues in the two countries hardest hit by the tsunami and where these issues are most pronounced– SriLanka and Indonesia. The papers outline concrete proposals for concerned national governments, foreign aid donors, and non-government organizations and civil society groups involved in post-tsunami relief operations on how they can ensure that assistance really benefit the victims of recent history’s worst tragedy.
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