A year has passed since the tsunami, and it is time to remember the many who lost their lives. It is also time to assess the effectiveness of the relief and reconstruction operations so far. This report is intended to outline the work that has been undertaken to restore and improve the livelihoods of tsunami-affected people. It recognises the poverty in which many people were living before the tsunami. It describes how the tsunami destroyed what meagre livelihoods these people had, and how it threatened to plunge millions more into poverty.
Topic:
International Relations, Disaster Relief, and Humanitarian Aid
On 26 December 2004, an earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra triggered a tsunami that hit the coasts of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, the Maldives, Malaysia, Burma, the Seychelles, and Somalia.
Topic:
Disaster Relief, Humanitarian Aid, and International Cooperation
Political Geography:
Malaysia, India, Asia, Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, and Somalia
The 8 October 2005 earthquake–Pakistan's biggest ever natural disaster–generated sympathy and support from people around the world. The Government of Pakistan reacted swiftly and with remarkable energy. However, major and immediate challenges remain. Six weeks after the earthquake, the response is not yet being organised in a manner that ensures that peoples' rights and needs are being met, according to international humanitarian principles.Donor countries need to provide their fair share of the resources and help required.The international response needs to be co-ordinated and led through a properly resourced, empowered, and staffed UN presence.The continuing relief and reconstruction effort requires civil authority management and civil society participation, and an early handover, where practical, by the military.All those involved in the response have an obligation to ensure not merely the restoration of bearable poverty, but 'reconstruction plus'– to build back better than before. The accountable management of funds and adherence to proper building standards are key to the reconstruction effort.The international community needs to fulfil its obligations not only in the relief phase but in longer-term reconstruction too, through a package of measures on aid and debt.
Topic:
Disaster Relief, Humanitarian Aid, and International Cooperation
Every year the lives of millions of people are devastated by natural disasters, conflict and other humanitarian emergencies. 2005 has seen particularly extreme humanitarian emergencies including the tsunami, the Sahel food crisis, and hurricanes Katrina and Stan. Tackling these crises requires a range of actions including immediate humanitarian assistance and long-term development. This short paper focuses on one concrete way in which the global humanitarian response could be improved to help prevent avoidable suffering and death — the upgrading of the existing UN Central Emergency Revolving Fund (CERF) to a new Central Emergency Response Fund.
Topic:
International Relations, Disaster Relief, Humanitarian Aid, and International Cooperation
Many of you are aware of CDI's 30-year history of research and commentary on U.S. defense topics. You may also have noticed the expanding breadth of our international projects and activities, such as our ground-breaking China Security Bulletin featuring contributions from a retired Chinese general, and a forthcoming report on Russia's defense spending by a Russian scholar who heads our Moscow office. To better reflect our global scope and project diversity, we have created the World Security Institute — which can be thought of as our “holding company.” We felt that this title better describes all of our activities that now encompass a wider definition of “security.”
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, Disaster Relief, Government, and Nuclear Weapons
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, China, Europe, Iran, Middle East, Asia, and Moscow