It has been three long and nightmarish weeks for those who managed
to survive the waves yet lost so much, and so many. We have
all poured our hearts and minds into this disaster, and as we
look ahead together, we hope that the worst is behind us.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
(IFRC) welcomes the decision of the General Assembly to hold
a special debate on the urgency of strengthening emergency relief.
It provides us an important opportunity to stress the priority
that must be given to disaster preparedness and disaster response,
together.
It is well known that the IFRC, working with its network of
Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies, is at the forefront
of providing emergency relief on the ground following natural
disasters.
The point was stressed on 11 January by Mr. Jan Egeland, the
UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, at the Ministerial Meeting
in Geneva on Assistance to Tsunami-affected Countries. He spoke
of, "the crucial role of National Red Cross and Red Crescent
Societies as the first line of defence against suffering and
disease," in disaster situations.
The Asian earthquakes and tsunamis of 26 December 2004 have
been followed by a tremendous and unprecedented level of support
from private citizens and the corporate sector. And I would
like to take this opportunity to thank all governments and all
missions in New York, who gave us such strong support. Your
contribution acknowledges the immediate response of Red Cross/Red
Crescent volunteers and trained staff in the countries directly
affected following the disaster. Our volunteers were on the
spot and providing rescue and relief services before news of
the catastrophe had even reached the outside world.
Our assessments enabled the IFRC Headquarters in Geneva to issue
its first preliminary appeal for support just eight hours after
the disaster struck. We are now at work in the twelve countries
that were directly touched, providing support for the restoration
of family links, and assisting the large number of people who
have lost relatives and friends.
Details of our work can be found on our website, http://www.ifrc.org,
so I will spare you the statistics, facts and figures. I will
simply note that it shows what thousands of Red Cross/Red Crescent
volunteers, staff, and Emergency Response Units are achieving
following the immediate assessments by our Field Assessment
and Coordination Teams. To provide just one example: this is
the largest Water and Sanitation deployment in IFRC's history.
There has been interest from around the world in the work of
the Red Cross/Red Crescent. This recognizes the fact that we
are in a unique position. We are the only international organisation
with a grassroots presence in virtually every community in the
world. We are also a federation of National Societies, which
are auxiliaries to the public authorities in their respective
countries.
At the outset, the IFRC, its member National Societies, and
the ICRC quickly reached agreement on their cooperation in the
region. As rescue and rehabilitation efforts continued, we also
established close cooperation and coordination with all local
authorities and our colleagues from the UN system, especially
OCHA.
We have spoken of our actions in many different contexts. We
are addressing substantive issues within the disaster risk reduction
framework at the World Conference on Disaster Reduction now
taking place in Kobe, Japan.
We also addressed the special vulnerabilities of remote communities
at the Mauritius International Meeting on Small Island Developing
States last week. In addition, we were represented by our Secretary-General
at the Jakarta Meeting of ASEAN Leaders on 6 January, and at
the Geneva Ministerial Meeting on 11 January.
Our message is simple but vital.
Emergency relief must be built into national programmes of preparedness
and risk reduction. Such programmes should be designed and implemented
through a national body, which includes the Red Cross or Red
Crescent National Society. This has been agreed upon by all
States in the International Conference of the Red Cross and
Red Crescent.
Emergency relief cannot be supplied by the international community
alone. The first line of defence, as Mr. Egeland has stated,
is provided by the communities themselves.
The best possible systems must be in place to provide warning
of impending disaster. Yet even the best systems cannot work
without the involvement of local communities and their volunteers.
Experience shows that a well-trained and well-prepared volunteer
base is essential to warning people, and then saving lives.
This is exactly what our experience from Bam shows.
Governments must bring their relevant laws and rules into harmony
with the international instruments and the necessities imposed
by disaster situations. The IFRC's International Disaster Response
Laws, Rules and Principles programme is all the more relevant
to emergency relief in the context of today's setting - twelve
countries directly affected and a worldwide outpouring of generosity.
My delegation has been privileged to offer advice to the cosponsors
of the draft resolution now under discussion and before us as
A/59/L.58. The resolution makes important references to the
need for effective risk reduction and preparedness programmes.
It also denotes that focus must remain steady to insure that
medium and long-term rehabilitation and reconstruction will
be carried out.
The IFRC would, however, have hoped to see a stronger reflection
in the draft of the essential place of local communities in
providing emergency relief. In other words, there should be
a strong international priority for capacity building, especially
at the community level.
We will no doubt return to the issues raised in this debate
many times in the months and years ahead. It is, however, important
that we do not lose sight of the other priorities, which demand
increasingly urgent attention from the international community.
I will not detail them now, except to say that we noted with
care that nearly all who spoke during the Ministerial Conference
in Geneva on 11 January said that their pledges for the Tsunami-affected
countries were additional to the assistance funds that they
were already providing for other humanitarian purposes.
We hope that this remains true. Despite progress towards the
achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, a great deal
must still be done to address the poverty and despair which
deprives so many people of basic human needs and dignity.
The price we all paid in this disaster, the tragedy of those
who perished - and those who have survived - mandate that we
do much more, faster and better than ever before, if we are
to avoid another shock of this magnitude in the future.
I sincerely hope that the destructive power in the Bay of Bengal
will lead to a new culture and power of prevention.
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