By IPS Correspondents
JAKARTA, Jan 6 2005 (IPS)

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan Thursday launched a “flash appeal” for nearly a billion U.S. dollars in immediate emergency aid for tsunami survivors in almost a dozen countries, after killer waves wreaked havoc along the Indian Ocean the day after Christmas.

Speaking at a hastily convened summit in the Indonesian capital, which brought together leaders from 26 nations and international organisations, Annan said 977 million dollars in cash was needed without delay to help five million survivors.

”We need the rest of the pledges to be converted into cash quickly,” Annan said in his four-page statement to leaders of the Association of South-east Asian Nations and other countries.

“We also need more people and more material to get the aid to those who are most in need, often in remote areas,” he stressed.

Of the total figure, the U.N. secretary-general said 229 million dollars was needed for food and agriculture; 122 million dollars for health care; 61 million dollars for water and sanitation; 222 million dollars for shelter and other urgent non-food items; and 110 million dollars for the early restoration of livelihoods.

Annan said the immediate cash assistance was urgently needed to ”set the stage for efforts in the longer term, as we move from saving lives to recovery and reconstruction.”

Nearly four billion dollars have been pledged worldwide for Asian countries hit by the tsunami disaster, which the secretary-general described as the worst humanitarian catastrophe in the 60-years existence of the world body.

”From the nameless fishing villages of Sumatra to the modern tourist resorts of Thailand; from the beaches of Sri Lanka and India to the coastal communities of the Maldives and Somalia; the disaster was so brutal, so quick, and so far reaching that we are still struggling to comprehend it,” Annan said.

”It seems at times like a nightmare from which we are still hoping to awaken,” the U.N. chief pointed out, when referring to the colossal number killed in the disaster.

Annan said the number of people killed in the Dec. 26 earthquake-triggered tidal wave would likely exceed 150,000, though the exact figure would never be known.

Responding to the appeal by the U.N. secretary-general, the European Union will donate 100 million euros (131.8 million dollars) for immediate tsunami relief and look at setting up 1.5 billion euros (1.97 billion dollars) in loans for affected countries, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said.

Barroso said he would ask the European Parliament to approve another 350 million euros (461.4 million dollars) in aid for longer term reconstruction of countries in the aftermath of the tsunami catastrophe.

”I think the European Parliament is ready to be very generous,” he told a press conference.

According to Barroso, the loan would be on ”very favourable terms” and administered by the European Investment Bank and other international financial institutions.

Also in response to the U.N. secretary-general’s appeal, Japan promised to immediately provide 250 million dollars out of the 500 million dollar emergency grant assistance to tsunami-stricken countries – made through international organisations.

Japanese Prime Minster Junichiro Koizumi also called on other countries to jointly apply a moratorium on the debts of affected countries for a certain period of time.

The World Bank says that among the tsunami-hit nations, Indonesia, India and Thailand have the highest foreign debts. Indonesia owed 132 billion dollars, India 104 billion and Thailand 59 billion dollars in 2002.

But the U.N. secretary-general declined to announce whether the debt freezes would be implemented.

”The issue of debt relief is very much on the table…and I will wait and see what the countries concerned and the creditor countries decide,” said Annan.

In the meantime, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, other Asian leaders and the U.N.’s top diplomat endorsed a tsunami warning system for the Indian Ocean – similar to the one already in place in the Pacific – to avert another catastrophe on a similar scale in the future.

”Prevention and early warning systems must become a priority,” Annan stressed.

Japan, which has one of the world’s most advanced networks of fibre-optic sensors that can warn of deadly tsunami within two minutes of an earthquake, offered technical expertise for the speedy establishment of the warning system.

According to Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai, ”it is well- proven that 10 minutes of an advanced warning can save hundreds of lives”.

Surakiart cited the case of the Morgan tribal group, on the south Surin islands off Phuket island who with their traditional knowledge handed down from their sea-roaming forefathers, were able to detect the fist signs of receding water and take refuge in the hills without any loss of life.

”Early warning is the key to disaster prevention,” said Surakiart.

The sheer magnitude of this disaster stretching across two continents, offers an unprecedented challenge to ensure the right emergency supplies reach the right people at the needed time.

The United Nations, said summit host Yudhoyono, was the natural candidate to play this leading role. He also stressed the need for a major U.N. role in coordinating the international aid effort in order to avoid duplication, or failing to help devastated areas.

The Indonesian president asked Annan to personally appoint a special representative to oversee and coordinate aid disbursement and reconstruction work in affected countries.

Aid groups say the lack of coordination is hampering the flow of supplies to damaged areas.

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