Tsunami
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WFP enters tsunami disaster reconstruction
phase
Bangkok:
With the tsunami-struck countries in Asia moving into
the reconstruction phase, the United Nations World Food
Programme is launching a series of post-emergency humanitarian
activities that could help hundreds of thousands of survivors
return to a stable, productive and independent way of life.
Just over two months after the 26 December 2004 disaster,
WFP is starting food-for-work projects in Myanmar to help
people rebuild their communities. In both Sri Lanka and
Indonesia, WFP has mapped out a strategy for providing nutritious
food to the most vulnerable members of the population, including
orphans, widows, mothers, heads of their households, the
elderly, the disabled, pregnant women, nursing mothers,
infants and schoolchildren.
"This
is where the real work begins," said Kenro Oshidari, WFP
Deputy Regional Director for Asia. "Just because this story
has disappeared from television screens, it doesn't mean
that the problem has gone away. In reality, it won't take
weeks or even months, but years for many of these communities
to recover," Oshidari added. "The challenges of rebuilding
are monumental, but WFP stands ready to play its role for
however long it takes," Oshidari continued, noting that
the WFP would continue to monitor "shifting patterns of
vulnerability" among the populations where emergency aid
could still be required. This weekend, the focus will be
on "Rebuilding After the Tsunami" at a fundraising rugby
match to be held at the home of English rugby in Twickenham.
The match was arranged by WFP's partner, the International
Rugby Board, and will pit star players from the northern
hemisphere against their southern foes. It will be broadcast
live to millions of people in more than a dozen countries.
Proceeds from the "Rugby Aid" match will fund long-term
reconstruction in areas worst affected by the tsunami. In
January, the WFP launched a six-month 256 million dollar
emergency operation for two million people affected by the
tsunami. Reconstruction activities incorporated into the
emergency are already underway: Some 7,000 people in Myanmar's
Irrawaddy Division are constructing 20 water ponds for crop
irrigation, six kilometers of village roads and two wooden
bridges destroyed by the tsunami. In return, they are getting
four months' supply of rice, cooking oil and beans.
In
the southern Kawthaung district, near the Thai border, the
WFP is giving the same ration to 1,000 people who are rebuilding
access roads and rehabilitating sea dykes damaged by the
waves. In Sri Lanka, the WFP will start a school feeding
programme in April for 120,000 children, who will get a
nutritious snack in school. This is in addition to the 165,000
children who were already enrolled in school feeding before
the tsunami. And in order to prevent malnutrition, WFP will
begin distributing corn- soya blended food to 200,000 "vulnerable
group" members and to 112,000 mothers and infants. In May
or June, WFP will assist 277,000 people to rebuild roads
and other local infrastructure in the affected areas. Also
in Sri Lanka, WFP will work in partnership with other groups
like the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the
International Organization for Migration (IOM) to help people
clear debris from their land, rebuild their houses and resume
their fishing activities by providing boats and nets.
WFP
and the International Labour Organization (ILO) carried
out a joint livelihoods and food security assessment in
January which indicated that before the disaster, some 37
percent of households in the area relied on fishing for
a living. Now that figure is only one percent. General food
distribution in Indonesia is gradually giving way to assistance
targeted to 350,000 primary school children, 55,000 pregnant/lactating
mothers, 130,000 children under five, 8,000 orphans and
children in daycare. WFP will contribute to the restoration
of livelihoods for the population affected through food-for-work,
and is talking with the World Bank, the Asian Development
Bank and other agencies on possible partnerships. The WFP
report also said that rural poverty in Indonesia had been
exacerbated by the tsunami. Oshidari said that if the high
levels of financial support for the disaster continue, WFP
and other agencies can use this opportunity "not only to
rebuild what was destroyed but to improve people's lives
by addressing the root causes of rural poverty in all the
tsunami-affected countries."
- Mar 3, 2005
Tsunami-hit
people in Port Blair move out of relief camps (Go
To Top)
Port
Blair: Hundreds of people, who were forced to take shelter
in relief camps in Port Blair after they were rendered homeless
by the killer tsunami, are slowly moving out of camps following
a notification from the local administration. The notification
says that the houses damaged by the tsunami have been constructed
or repaired and the local administration is also providing
relief. Though people are leaving for their homes in dozens,
there are still several others who do not want to go back
saying there was no infrastructure. But, the authorities
are keen that they re- start their lives at the earliest.
"Mostly 95 percent tribals are residing in these camps and
they are from Car Nicobar. The government wants them to
return to their land and start a livelihood. Relief material
has been sent there," said Abdul Azim, officer-in-charge
of the camps. The killer tsunami waves, which swamped Asian
coastlines two months ago, not only killed thousands of
people in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, it also hurt
a vital part of the country's defences. An air base was
badly damaged, a coast guard centre is still submerged and
worse, settlers brought to the southernmost island to cement
this strategically vital archipelago to the mainland, are
scared and want to flee. Though they have been provided
with relief materials, holding them back and rebuilding
their lives is likely to prove more difficult than rebuilding
the bases that were destroyed.
- Mar 3, 2005
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