June 29, 2005
The tsunami: What can we learn from the disaster? By Jonathan William Barr
The tsunami which stuck on December 26, 2004 left Southeast Asia completely devastated as infrastructures were annihilated and over 160,000 people were reported dead. The epicentre of the quake was approximately 500 km west of the island of Banda Aceh, Indonesia where over 95 000 people died. The effects of the tsunami were even felt as far as Africa where Kenya, Seychelles, Somalia, Tanzania, and Madagascar reported casualties. In the weeks following the quake, the international communities' response was very positive. Germany has pledged approximately $650 million, alongside Japan with $500 million, Canada with $425 million. Furthermore, Australia and America have pledged $380 and $350 million respectively. There is no question that this aid will be essential for the clean-up and rebuilding in those countries effected by the disaster.
However, there have been instances in the past when promises have been made and not met. An example of such false promises occurred in 2003 when the Iranian government was promised $1.1 billion because of the destructive earthquake but only received 17.5 million. Moreover, Mozambique received half of the $400 million it was promised and Honduras and Nicaragua have had a similar fate only receiving a third of the $9 billion they were promised. In analyzing the contributions of various Western governments, one reason being given for the unprecedented amounts of aid are that citizens of Western governments were directly affected by the disaster. Therefore, if the disaster would have occurred directly in Africa, one would wonder if the amount of aid given would have been the same. As seen from historical evidence, Westerners have not been as generous when their interests are not directly affected.
Furthermore, Western countries have continuously remained under the UN's development aid contribution target of 0.7 percent of national GDP. Only five countries, which are Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, and Luxembourg, have met the 0.7% target for development aid. The US gives just 0.10 percent, alongside the UK at 0.31%, Japan at 0.27%, Canada at 0.25%, Australia at 0.27%, and New Zealand at 0.26%.
As the living standards between the North and South have continually developed to disproportionate levels, poverty has become one of the biggest issues facing the international community. Increased public pressure by civil society on governments to meet UN contribution targets is absolutely essential. Currently, there are more than a billion people worldwide who live on less than a $1 a day. Thus, there is an increasing need to recognize that civil society has the ability to make a real difference.
The tsunami crisis has demonstrated that individuals can collectively pressure governments to increase development aid. In the weeks following the tsunami, Western governments were playing catch-up, increasing initial pledges to match the donations being made by civil society. The elimination or reduction of world poverty will positively affect global stability and peace therefore; it is in our collective interest to give to the world's poor. There can be some optimism found within the UN where 191 countries have pledged to meet certain development goals; reducing by half the proportion of people living on less than a dollar a day and reducing by half the proportion of people who suffer from hunger. Time will only tell but one early lesson from the tsunami crisis is that each individual has an ability to make a real difference.
All information for this article was taken from the United Nations website, which can be found at www.un.org.
Author: Jonathan William Barr
Posted on June 29, 2005 10:27 PM