Julia Spurzem
UNITED NATIONS, Nov 30 2005 (IPS) – U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan Wednesday called on the international community to give 4.7 billion dollars to create a fund to help 31 million victims of war and natural disasters in 26 countries.
The past year, and particularly the response to the Indian Ocean tsunami and U.S. hurricanes, demonstrated a tremendous capacity for giving, Annan said, stressing that the appeal is an opportunity which must not be missed to extend that generosity to people whose plight may not capture the world s attention, but whose suffering is no less tragic .
In a world of plenty, continued suffering is a terrible stain on our conscience, he added, describing the unimaginable conditions of victims of humanitarian catastrophes, who have no access to clean water, food, shelter, health care or other necessities.
Annan emphasised that the appeal is intended to not only alleviate this immediate suffering, but also to identify and address long-term needs. He compared the amount of needed humanitarian aid with current levels of military spending.
It is less than what the world spends every 48 hours on its militaries. Two days of military spending against a year s worth of live-saving humanitarian assistance for 31 million people, he said.
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland drew another comparison: Are we asking too much? I do not think it s too much. We are asking for the equivalent of two cups of coffee per rich person in the world, the one billion persons in the industrialised world. With that we would cover all the needs of these 31 million people in a desperate situation.
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Egeland made clear that there are many disasters that have been forgotten by the international community. What we hope is that we have in 2006 a year with more equality, he said. In recent years, single emergencies have used up more than 50 percent of the total funds available. As a result, ongoing crises in countries like Burundi, the Central African Republic, Cote d Ivoire or Guiana are left to fester.
We can no longer afford to neglect the majority of crises to play a humanitarian lottery in which only one or two crises capture the world s attention each year, and therefore its support, Egeland added, stressing that the funding of humanitarian assistance must be more predictable and more equitable .
According to Egeland, another challenge is to find new donors. Although 2005 saw 19 new donors contributing to the United Nations appeal, there is still a strong dependence on a handful of wealthy countries. We still get 90 percent of the money from the same 10 countries. We need to see an expansion of the humanitarian donor community, he said.
This year, more money than ever is needed up to six billion dollars, Egeland said. We hope that 2006 will be fully covered, he said, in contrast to the 57 percent coverage rate of emergencies at the moment. We should aim to 100 percent. If the world can spend so much money on military spending, than it can also afford money on life-saving.
Egeland also urged greater speed in making aid available to people in need. We have to be faster. We are always late for the rainy season and then help gets more expensive, he said.
Annan stressed the importance of this issue. Delayed and incomplete funding unnecessarily prolongs suffering. It costs lives. By minimising the need for larger follow-on requests, it will also save money.
Egeland and Annan support the establishment of a Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), which will allow the U.N. to respond to natural disasters and other emergencies within a matter of days rather than weeks it can take now. This fund will include a grant element. I hope that the General Assembly will decide on that in the next days, Egeland said.
The lion s share of pledges will be needed for Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, at 2.5 billion and one billion dollars, respectively.
Besides the consolidated appeals, some of the so-called flash appeals , used for a rapid response, will be taken into the next year, including the appeal for the South Asian earthquake and the tsunami response.
In 2005, the appeal was estimated at 1.7 billion dollars. But because of the strain on existing operations due to natural disasters and political crises, the amount has now risen to 5.9 billion dollars.
But Egeland is convinced that the international community will step up to the plate. I think we are not asking too much. We are asking for what it takes to save lives.
