 |
|
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
|
|
 |
- 02/06/12: Remarks by Donald Steinberg, Deputy Administrator, US Agency for International Development - Beyond Victimhood: The Crucial Role of Marginalized Groups in Building Peace
- 02/02/12: Statement of Dr. Sarah E. Mendelson, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance, before the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights - U.S. Policy toward Post-Election Democratic Republic of the Congo
- 01/20/12: Remarks by USAID Administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah at the Environment and Security Conference, Washington, DC
- 01/19/12: Remarks by USAID Administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah at the Brookings Institution, Washington, DC - U.S. Aid and Transparency for Global Development
- See all USAID Speeches and Testimony
 RSS Feed for Recent USAID Speeches and Testimony
|
|
|
|
|
This is an archived USAID document retained on this web site as a matter of public record.
Andrew S. Natsios
Administrator, US Agency for International Development
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Forum:
Post-Tsunami Reconstruction
Briefing Center, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
1615 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.
January 18, 2005
Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today and update you on the tsunami relief efforts. I also want to thank many of you for the response that you and the American private sector have shown to this incredible disaster in Asia. We are making a difference, and you are making a difference. But there is a long way to go to achieve reconstruction and recovery. I urge you to remain engaged.
I want to say a few words about what this disaster looks like in person, how the American government and the American people are responding, and applaud the role that our private sector is playing and can continue to play.
I returned from the disaster region last week with Secretary of State Powell. This is one of the largest relief efforts in history.
Secretary Powell said it best: "I've been in war, and I've been through a number of hurricanes, tornadoes, and other relief operations," he said, "but I have seen nothing like this." In all my years in this line of work, I have never before seen a disaster that affects 12 countries, as this earthquake and tsunami have done. The velocity and force of the tsunami waves that struck communities along the coast were ferocious. 150,000 or more people are dead. More than 1.5 million people are homeless or displaced.
In some places, the shorelines geography has been permanently altered.
What the media have somewhat overlooked in their otherwise extensive coverage is the fact that there were two disasters on top of each other on December 26. Most of the destruction and death occurred because of the tsunami waves, but please don't forget that the waves were triggered by a powerful earthquake that caused significant destruction on its own.
This is particularly visible in the Aceh region of Indonesia, where mountainous areas that were untouched by the tsunami have suffered major infrastructure damage. The earthquake destroyed about 70 percent of the bridges in some areas of western Indonesia, which poses a logistical challenge to our relief efforts and hampers the area's economic recovery.
The U.S. Government has pledged $350 million to help respond to this disaster. That pledge will likely increase as more information comes in and we constantly update our response plans. The lead U.S. agency for coordinating our disaster response is USAID. We have operated development programs in many of these countries for decades, and so we know the local people and local resources well. USAID has 150 staff members working on the ground in the region responding to this disaster.
We activated our Disaster Assistance Response Team for the field the day that the earthquake and disaster struck. We immediately established a 24-hour Response Management Team in Washington to support our efforts in the field and handle the thousands of information requests coming our way.
Of course we are not working alone. We are working very closely with the U.S. military, which has done an outstanding job of rapidly deploying its considerable assets to help in the region.
I don't know where this relief operation would be without the ships, airplanes, helicopters, manpower, and can-do attitude provided by the U.S. military. The logistical and transport capacity of the U.S. military and the disaster response expertise of USAID have been a formidable combination in this disaster response. USAID disaster specialists in the region are temporarily embedded within the U.S. military's chain of command in order to give the military tactical and strategic guidance on the competing priorities facing the disaster zone every day.
On our USAID website you will find 58 private relief and development organizations that are responding to the tsunami disaster. Many of them are familiar names to you, such as the American Red Cross, CARE, Catholic Relief Services, and International Rescue Committee, as well as scores of others with considerable experience. UN relief agencies such as UNICEF and the World Food Program are also playing indispensable roles.
Most of our USAID funding flows through these international humanitarian agencies. We are also tapping local capacities in each of the affected countries. Most of these are democratic countries with competent government officials who must be at the forefront of this rebuilding effort.
The President is right. Our compassion has to be well-channeled in order to be effective. At USAID there are four principles that govern our work in the tsunami disaster zone. First is to respond rapidly and with due sense of urgency. Time means lives. We have responded rapidly. Our sense of urgency has not dissipated as we try to reach remote areas and work to stave off disease and epidemics in the areas we have already reached.
Our second principle is to work now, even in the earliest days after the disaster, to alleviate the long-term economic impact of this disaster. While we and our partners are handing out food and blankets and doing vaccinations on an emergency basis, we also need to revive the local economies of these small villages by the ocean. The roads that we are re-opening to deliver relief supplies are the same roads that can facilitate local trade and commerce. We are pursuing job creation programs. We are creating or reviving micro-credit programs so that victims can repair their fishing boats, rebuild their homes, purchase the supplies needed to restart their small businesses. We want cash-for-work programs that help put local people to work to clean up the debris from their own devastated communities. We have found that these types of activities pump energy into local economies and help put disaster victims back in charge of their lives. We want to keep people busy, not dependent.
Our third principle is protection. The death toll has left behind thousands of unaccompanied minors. Thousands of widowed women who have lost their husbands and their breadwinners. Already we here stories of displaced women being raped or exploited. Of homeless teenagers who are potentially susceptible to recruitment into local rebel armies in Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Of orphaned children becoming potential targets for child traffickers. We want to be sure that the rights of women and children are protected when they are standing in line for assistance, and when it comes time to reclaim the land or bank accounts left behind by their deceased family members. We also want to support psycho-social programs needed to protect survivors from the deep invisible scars that this catastrophe has left behind.
Fourthly, our USAID staff in the field are acutely aware of the truly remarkable responsibility they carry as the initial point of contact between the American people and the disaster victims. We are dealing with people who are extraordinarily vulnerable, who need assistance and reassurance. Our staff members in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, India, and elsewhere know that they represent you the American people, and that it is their professional and moral responsibility to convey your spirit of generosity and compassion.
Our compassion has to be well-channeled. At USAID, we have learned from experience that in the wake of disaster, relief work and development work must go hand-in-hand. While we are handing out food and doing vaccinations, it is also not too early to get survivors of the tsunami active and back in charge of their lives after their devastating loss. So we are pursuing job creation, micro-credit programs, cash-for-work programs - a strategy that enables victims of this disaster to begin rebuilding their lives.
We have found that these constructive activities are therapeutic because they help victims deal with the emotional shock and psychological trauma that is otherwise dominating their lives at this moment.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce companies have collected $290 million in cash and in-kind donations. One report indicates that the 100 largest U.S. corporations have pledged about a half-billion dollars to the tsunami relief effort. American families, one-by-one, have donated more than $320 million to humanitarian agencies working on the tsunami response.
I urge you to keep your companies engaged on this. We need your involvement for the long-haul. The response of the American private sector has been extraordinary. I am told that in terms of dollars pledged or donated, this is the second-largest disaster response in American history, second only to 9/11. America responded to our own tragedy and we are equally concerned about tragedies elsewhere.
Back to Top ^
|
