Statement of the United States of America

Ministerial Meeting on Humanitarian Assistance
to Tsunami Affected Communities

Geneva,
January 11, 2005

Introduction:

On behalf of the President of the United States of America, Secretary of State Colin Powell and all of the American people, the U.S. wishes to express our deepest sympathy to our esteemed colleagues who represent their governments here and the peoples of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Somalia, Maldives and Malaysia for the unfathomable loss of life, extreme suffering and truly catastrophic damage sustained. The President has said, “"...We join the world in feeling enormous sadness over a great human tragedy....The carnage is of a scale that defies comprehension.... As the people of this devastated region struggle to recover, we offer our love and compassion, and our assurance that America will be there to help." (From President Bush's Weekly Radio Address Jan. 1, 2005)

· We also want to share our condolences with representatives of European and other affected countries that also suffered numerous casualties and will also need to address their own losses and challenges.
· We have witnessed an amazing outpouring of public sympathy and support. Reports indicate that official pledges have exceeded $5 billion. In the U.S. there is evidence that private contributions will exceed official pledges. We are truly a global community.
· Contributions to private organizations in the week following the tsunami disaster are the largest in history.

Report from the Scene:

· I have just returned from a visit to the region accompanying Secretary Powell. Let me give you some of my observations on conditions, progress with the relief efforts, and the next steps.
· The U.S. has a 40 person Disaster Assistance Response Team, (DART) and 109 USAID Mission employees who are directly involved in the tsunami response efforts.
· There are dozens of NGOs working – we met with some of them.
· Over 13,000 U.S. military personnel, 21 vessels, 41 aircraft, and 48 helicopters have been engaged – expending $5-6 million a day.

Pledge:

· The President has pledged the full support of the United States to the peoples affected by this disaster as they rebuild their communities and their lives. The United States is making an initial pledge of $350 million to the relief and reconstruction effort. Based on completion of the assessments the U.S. is prepared to consider additional funding.

· This effort clearly demonstrates the major shift in how relief, reconstruction and development have become global issues, not just the purview of the “Official Development Assistance” donor community.

· We must recognize the generosity of private citizens and corporations around the world. Contributions directly from American citizens and corporations directly to U.S. private organizations have already reached well over $300 million and are growing every day.

o President Bush has asked that Americans maintain their regular giving for the international development work of non-governmental organizations and make these Tsunami donations on top of that.

o Every part of U.S. society has been touched.

o Former Presidents Bush and Clinton will be making efforts to increase private giving even further, both for the Tsunami and for longer term reconstruction and development efforts.

o From communities and grocery stores to corporations and foundations, Americans are organizing and making significant donations.

o Groups such as Mercy Corps, World Vision, Catholic Relief Charities and other U.S. NGOs, report collecting more for the tsunami than their entire receipts in 2004.

o In the United States over 80% of the total resource flows to developing countries throughout the year are from the private and non-profit community. That has changed in the past 30 years when private flows represented less than 20%. As a development community we must recognize the importance of these private contributions, assure they are used effectively, and build on the compassion the Tsunami has elicited to find ways to continue this interest into longer term development efforts.

· The United States military also deserves special recognition as they have deployed enormous resources into the region to work with all of us in getting our assistance to the most isolated people. We could not be reaching the millions of people that we are without that support and those added resources.

· The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) will undertake a Tsunami Reconstruction Finance Initiative, including the establishment of an initial, special line of credit of up to $150 million to mobilize U.S. private sector engagement in critical reconstruction needs.

Moving Ahead:

· We welcome strong leadership of the relief effort by the United Nations. The USG will have moved over $35 million by the end of this week through the UN system to mobilize their considerable capacity to provide relief. The U.S. compliments the Secretary General and Under-Secretary Egeland for their personal commitment and the contribution of their organization.
· We recognize that the primary responsibility for rebuilding these devastated areas rests with the countries themselves and we are committed to assuring that the reconstruction plans reflect the priorities and development plans of the countries concerned.

· Reconstruction must be coordinated directly with governments and donors but also local government officials and local civil society in the devastated areas must be involved.

· We want to strengthen the capacity of local actors not only for reconstruction but for a sustained commitment to development. Only when reconstruction includes local actors will the devastated regions truly regain what they have lost.

· Both the United Nations and the multilateral development banks are engaged in assessing the reconstruction needs; these assessments must be well coordinated. The U.S. has instructed its Missions to cooperate actively and fully with these assessment missions.

· When the assessments are completed, we look forward to the opportunity to meet again with other donors to determine how best to fund these reconstruction needs.

· We must assure that reconstruction addresses not only infrastructure, which has been devastated, but also livelihoods, community capacity, and the trauma suffered by families and communities.

· As we rebuild, we must raise the bar and assure that new infrastructure and systems are better prepared to deal with natural disasters. To this end, the US intends to work closely with other donors to improve early warning systems and disaster response capacity within the region.

U.S. Response:

Immediate:

· The U.S. is committed to providing for the immediate needs of affected populations – food, water, sanitation, shelter, and health.
· We are also deeply concerned about the welfare of internally displaced persons and children who are more vulnerable than every to trafficking at this time.
· It is essential that people’s livelihood be restored quickly such as cash for work programs and immediate help for the fishing sector.

Reconstruction:

· Our plans for reconstruction will depend heavily on the outcomes of the multi-donor assessments that are just beginning and on the initiative of local governments and communities. We must help restore to these communities the ownership of their own fates.

· It is essential that we move quickly to reinvigorate the economy, rebuild shattered communities, and respond to the trauma suffered by the survivors. Community focused activities, based on local ownership, have a high priority in these conditions. This might include: micro-finance activities, credit guarantees to assure local banks have the capital to provide disaster loans, rebuilding schools, replacement and upgrading of infrastructure, and public-private partnerships which can be sustained beyond the emergency. We would be eager to explore with other donors, the UN and NGOs how we might respond in these areas.

· The United States has made both an immediate and long term commitment to this region and to bringing economic growth and democratic freedoms to people throughout the world. We are meeting those commitments.