RECONSTRUCTION AFTER TSUNAMI MUST BEGIN QUICKLY

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

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WASHINGTON, Jan 31 2005 (IPS) - Reconstruction should begin quickly, the author writes in this analysis. This stage is not just a matter of financial resources and physical infrastructure but also human beliefs and emotional pressures. It is rebuilding the individual lives of real people. As we move from relief to rebuilding, it is critical that we work to break the cycle of poverty and create a better, more hopeful future for the peoples of the region and not recreate the circumstances that made them vulnerable to the disaster. There is an increasing concern that the overall level of assistance to help all these poor countries including the tsunami-stricken nations won\’t actually increase but will merely come from shifting existing funds. This is not the answer. We simply cannot divert resources from other essential development projects to one emergency after another.

In so many ways, the international reaction to the tsunami tragedy of December 26 has reminded us all that the world truly has a generous heart. The global community, already grappling with the almost overwhelming scale of the crisis, is now doubly challenged to respond to the generosity of the world’s citizens, be it through civil society, governments, or the myriad individual acts of kindness we are seeing every day in the region.

The most important task of the moment, one in which civil society is playing a vital part, is to get the basic necessities to people affected by the disaster food, water, sanitation, and medicine. But as we move from relief to rebuilding, it is equally critical that we work to break the cycle of poverty and create a better, more hopeful future for the peoples of the region and not recreate the circumstances that made them vulnerable to the disaster.

From its long history of responding to crises and rebuilding after large-scale destruction, the World Bank has learned that it is the poorest who are most vulnerable to natural disasters. They live precariously in flimsy shelters on flood plains, river banks, and coastal strips unprotected by sea walls. They are the people who live on the poverty line – the fishermen of Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu and Somalia, eking out a living, the Acehnese farmer, the Thai women selling handicrafts to tourists.

The enormous force of this tragedy is one of many reminders that we are all linked together, by forces that are both visible and invisible: forces of nature, forces of poverty, of disease, terrorism, crime, drugs.

This means that we must also respond to this crisis in the context of the many things that link us together, and particularly our efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and a better world for all. We should remember the majority of the people killed were poor, impoverished and unable to defend themselves.

We know from past experience that rebuilding efforts such as that which we face in the aftermath of the tsunami can only be effective in partnership with others. We have reached out to the UN, which is leading the immediate relief, and will work closely with other international financial institutions — particularly the Asian Development Bank and the International Monetary Fund — as well as with international and local civil society groups, as we make the transition from relief to long-term recovery.

Reconstruction should begin quickly. This stage is not just a matter of financial resources and physical infrastructure but also human beliefs and emotional pressures. It is rebuilding the individual lives of real people. In this context, the roles of the communities, civil society, and the private sector are very important as we work to respond together. We in the World Bank, certainly want to work this way, trying to help people rebuild not only physical assets but also their own confidence and hope.

We also believe very strongly that the use of our public resources should be transparent, effective, and show clear results. This would not only help in the case of this emergency response but would also support the governments concerned with the transparent and effective use of public resources in general.

It is also important that the support being offered to meet these special needs be continuous, consistent, and in addition to whatever we were or are doing already. As the international community holds important meetings and as countries and organisations continue to make pledges, there is an increasing concern that the overall level of assistance to help poor countries including the tsunami-stricken nations won t actually increase but will merely come from shifting existing funds. This is not the answer. We simply cannot divert resources from other essential development projects to one emergency after another.

The scenes of people reaching out to help others in the wake of the disaster has been inspiring. International and local civil society groups are raising large sums of money and have sent volunteers, food, and lifesaving supplies into many communities that others cannot reach. In Jakarta, there are reports of pedicab drivers donating their daily wages. As these gestures of simple humanity have shown, we are united in our grief, united by this tragedy, and united in our concern for our fellow human beings in places many of us have never seen before.

The challenge for all of us -civil society, governments, and organisations like the World Bank- is to remain united in the months and years ahead in helping poor communities struggling to recover and rebuild: united in making people less vulnerable to disasters, united in restoring hope for a better future, and united in creating more security and peace for the poorest people in the region. (END/COPYRIGHT IPS)