Matching know-how with resources key challenge of recovery effort
six months on
WASHINGTON and ROME, June 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Six months after the
devastating tsunami around the coasts of the Indian Ocean, strong coordination
between governments, donors and aid organizations is essential to ensure that
the unprecedented resources committed to the recovery effort are directed
appropriately and help build back better livelihoods for those hardest hit by
the disaster, FAO said today.
"Inappropriate and uncoordinated assistance will do more harm than good,"
said Richard China, Rome-based coordinator of FAO's rehabilitation activities.
"FAO is working with ministries and local authorities to help build consensus
among non-governmental organizations on what should be done where by whom and
how, including providing technical specifications, to avoid duplication and
fragmentation of activities and unsustainable practices."
To date, FAO has $53 million of approved funding for its tsunami response
and has deployed more than 70 international and regional experts to help
affected countries with needs assessments, coordination, planning and delivery
of early recovery and longer-term reconstruction assistance.
Contributors to FAO's programme include the European Community, Italy,
Norway, Japan, Belgium, Finland, Spain, China, United Kingdom, Germany,
Canada, Zambia and the United States.
Helping fishers and farmers get back to work
FAO is providing direct assistance via governmental and non-governmental
intermediaries to fishers and farmers through the delivery of repair kits and
engine parts for fishing boats, fishing nets and other gear, seeds and farm
tools, motorized paddy cultivators, and repair of irrigation and drainage
infrastructure, as well as guidance, training and equipment to deal with salt
water damage to farm land.
In order to provide income and livelihood opportunities to communities and
allow resumption of food production, FAO is supporting cash-for-work
programmes to rehabilitate paddy fields covered with debris.
Forestry rehabilitation
FAO's forestry programme for tsunami rehabilitation, including assessment
of wood demand and supply for reconstruction of houses and other
infrastructure, has produced positive results concerning government action to
protect natural forest and wildlife reserves and address the danger of
accelerated illegal logging and deforestation.
FAO is also developing a programme to facilitate district and village
level land use planning to identify the opportunities for forest
rehabilitation, reforestation and agroforestry to provide for coastal
protection and livelihood needs of local populations.
Furthermore, FAO has provided essential support to line ministries and
development banks in the preparation of their initial reconstruction plans. In
Indonesia, the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency for Aceh and Nias last
week asked FAO to provide advisers in fisheries, agriculture and forestry to
assist the Government in the more detailed planning of its recovery
activities.
Multiplier effect
"FAO's budget is relatively small in comparison to the billions received
by other organizations, but our technical assistance and know-how will have a
multiplier effect, helping to optimize sustainable outcomes from all of the
resources deployed towards recovery of rural and fishing-based livelihoods,"
said China.
Approximately 40 percent of FAO's tsunami budget has already been
delivered to the affected countries and committed to procurement of inputs and
technical assistance.
While another $22 million of potential donor funding is in the pipeline
for FAO, $50 million is needed to enable FAO to maintain and expand its
technical assistance and direct support in line with the unmet needs of local
fishers and farmers to restore their self-reliance and dignity.
SOURCE Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
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Related links:
http://www.fao.org/english/newsroom
CONTACT:
Michael Hage, Regional Information Officer of
FAO, +1-202-653-0011, michael.hage@fao.org
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