Annan Slams Aid Response
19/11/2005| IslamWeb
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned of a "gigantic task" ahead for quake recovery efforts in northern Pakistan, and chided the international community on the eve of a key donors conference for its poor response to the disaster. Visiting families sheltering in tents inside the quake zone in Muzaffarabad, Annan said he would renew funding appeals at today's donor conference for what he called "one of the largest humanitarian tragedies we've had to deal with."
"It is really a gigantic task that we have ahead of us," Annan said, saying difficulties posed by winter's arrival and the logistics of reaching mountain villages made the disaster comparable to last December's South Asian tsunami that killed 180,000 people.
He said the international response to the October 8 quake, which left more than 87,000 dead, mostly in Pakistani Kashmir, had not measured up to the outpouring of aid that followed the earlier disaster.
"I think there is no doubt that donors' response has been weak and tardy," he told a Press conference after his tour of the devastation.
The UN chief said he hoped conference delegates would "give willingly and generously," adding later from capital Islamabad that if the conference does not raise the funds required, he would continue to try to secure them at a later date. About three million people lost their homes in the temblor, leaving hundreds of thousands living in flimsy tents and an unknown number with no shelter at all.
Accompanied by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, Annan visited families and observed vaccination work at the Thuri Park tent camp that houses 2,000 people in quake-hit Muzaffarabad.
He said he was impressed with the rare co-operation in relief work between aid agencies and militaries, primarily Pakistan's.
Meanwhile, Britain announced yesterday it would pledge an additional 120million US dollar at the conference for post-earthquake reconstruction, to be paid out over three years.
Yet with snow already falling in the quake zone, time is fast running out to prevent a second wave of deaths from exposure, hunger and disease, six of the world's largest aid relief organisations said in a joint appeal.
Among the most pressing needs are for warmer shelters to guard against low night temperatures.
Annan urged Pakistan and India to harness the mood of co-operation forged in the wake of the quake to achieve lasting peace in Kashmir. The neighbours had acted responsibly by setting aside their animosities to join hands in the relief effort, he said.
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