Oxfam underlined the need for long-term aid to devastated countries

By Adam Wild Aba, IOL Correspondent

WASHINGTON, January 1 (IslamOnline.net) – Six days after the world’s worst tidal waves that ripped across the Indian ocean to Africa leaving at least 125,000 people killed and areas wiped off the face of the earth, an international relief agency fears that aid generosity was only fleeting and would evaporate when the media frenzy fades away.

Oxfam International, a confederation of 12 organizations working to find lasting solutions to poverty and suffering across the world, urged donor countries to give “long-term aid” and honor relief promises made for the devastated countries.

“Governments must not only pledge immediate aid for the millions of victims of the tsunami. They must deliver it before it is too late,” Raymond C Offenheiser, President of Oxfam America, said in a press release e-mailed to IslamOnline.net.

“And they must support people rebuilding their lives after the cameras have gone. Like all the people in the humanitarian crises that never hit our TV screens, they need the continued, not just fleeting generosity, of rich governments.”

Oxfam relief operations are under way in four of the countries worst hit by the massive tsunami wave.

The agency recorded an overwhelmingly generous response across the globe for the millions affected after a 9.0 magnitude earthquake less than 150 km (95 miles) off the northern tip of Indonesia’s Sumatra triggered killer tidal waves.

Oxfam International raised so far a record $16 million, according to its Web site.

Oxfam America received over $3m in unsolicited online donations alone while UK Oxfam has more than three million pounds ($5,752,000) in just five days.

Politically Motivated

Bush increased the US aid to $350 million amid criticism of slow and miserly initial response.

Oxfam said that aid pledges by some countries such as the US, France and Britain in the wake of a natural disaster usually seems politically motivated and only designed to hit the headlines.

The appeal, for instance, in response to Iran's earthquake 12 months ago was only 54% funded. Of the $32m requested, only $17 million were given, according to Oxfam Web site.

And the appeal for the series of disasters that hit Haiti from March to September 2004 was only 36% funded with only $13m received of the $37m requested.

Similarly, Oxfam added, Afghanistan's 2002 appeal was 67% funded, immediately after the Taliban was overthrown.

Two years later, its Drought Appeal for 2004 was only 36% funded with $26m given of the $73m requested.

Moreover, Iraq and Chechnya's 2003 appeals were both 91% funded, while Cote D'Ivoire only received 54%, Liberia 45% and Mozambique 15%.

On Friday, December 31, the United States dramatically increased its aid pledges to $350m, eclipsing the World Bank’s $250m.

The increased assistance was only the latest step by the Bush administration and Congress to bolster America's contribution to relief efforts amid criticism that its initial response had been slow and miserly.

President George Bush waited until Wednesday, three days after the tsunami struck 13 countries from Malaysia to East Africa, to announce a stingy $35m in aid for the region.

Critics quickly compared the dollar sum to $13.6 billion in aid for hurricane-battered US states that Congress passed speedily in the run-up to last month's US elections, particularly the swing state of Florida.

The US aid is nothing compared to the $18bn sum set aside for reconstruction in Iraq alone.

Before Friday's announcement, the biggest donors had been Britain with $96m and Sweden with $80m.

The UN said Friday the death toll was approaching 150,000 and Sweden said it could go as high as 200,000 with a third or more of them believed to be children.

Aid teams are now racing against time with an estimated 5 million people in the disaster areas facing grave difficulty getting food and clean water. Health authorities warned of a second wave of deaths from contagious diseases.