08 January 2007
U.S. Continues To Help Build Disaster Response Capacities
Efforts include communications buoy deployment, preparedness training
Washington -- The United States continues to help Indian Ocean countries affected by the December 2004 tsunami expand their national and local capacities to respond effectively to the crisis and similar ones in the future, says a U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) official.
In December 2006, the United States deployed the first deep-sea monitoring communication buoy in the Indian Ocean that provides real-time observation data. Two more buoys are planned for deployment in the region, said Mark Ward, USAID senior deputy administrator for Asia and the Near East. (See related article.)
The data the buoys provide can be used to help national governments warn their communities of potential natural disasters, allowing them time to prepare a response, Ward said.
Ward and Eric Schwartz, United Nations special envoy for tsunami recovery, briefed reporters January 4 at the National Press Center in Washington on joint accomplishments to date and on lessons learned from the disaster that killed more than 200,000, displaced an estimated 2 million and destroyed or damaged 370,000 homes.
The United States also is providing training for police officers, firefighters and medical professionals in emergency medical care, collapsed structure search and rescue techniques, and hospital preparedness in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nepal and the Philippines, Ward said.
The United States continues to attempt to get other countries to commit to providing humanitarian assistance, including those that historically have not given aid, Ward said.
The United Arab Emirates became the first Gulf-region country to commit to provide humanitarian aid during the 2005-2006 period when the United States chaired the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), he said.
Ward said he hopes other countries will follow the United Arab Emirates' example.
In other continuing efforts, the United States is working to tap the resources and expertise of the private sector, secure greater involvement of international groups and nongovernmental organizations, and push for common operating principles, Ward said. (See related article.)
Since the tsunami, the United States has helped secure $30 million in private-sector funding to help the affected countries, he said.
"Corporations are often able and willing to quickly channel monetary or in-kind resources for immediate disaster relief as well as near or long-term reconstruction."
And if a company does not already have a presence in a country in need, USAID helps the donor get its contribution to where it best can be used, Ward said.
Ward said the massive Indian Ocean tsunami provided valuable lessons for long-term disaster preparedness.
One lesson, Schwartz said, is that countries together must do more to manage risk "as climate change and patterns of human behavior ensure we haven't seen the last of these natural hazards."
Another lesson is that disaster recovery efforts can be used to promote equality by ensuring that vulnerable communities and ethnic minorities are protected in the aid-distribution process, Schwartz said.
Ward said other countries could learn from India how communities can prepare for a disaster such as a tsunami, typhoon or earthquake.
For more information on U.S. assistance programs, see Partnership for a Better Life and Humanitarian Assistance and Refugees.
More information about the United Nations' tsunami recovery efforts is available on the U.N. Development Programme's Web site.
(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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