UN says rich should stump up more for disaster aid
Source: Reuters
GENEVA, Jan 17 (Reuters) - The world's big economies are contributing far less proportionally than smaller rich countries to a U.N. disaster relief fund, a senior official of the world body said on Wednesday. Margareta Wahlstrom, the United Nations' acting emergency relief coordinator, told a news conference that contributions to a U.N. appeal launched in November 2005 had so far attracted a fraction of the total needed. Of the $3.9 billion sought in advance for 2007 just 0.4 percent -- $15 million -- had been pledged. "I am sure more will start coming in soon, but we need to find more donors and the large, rich economies of the world need to allocate more money," she said. "We will be working to convince them to do so." Wahlstrom noted that smaller -- predominantly European -- countries like Sweden, Norway, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Ireland contributed far more proportionate to the size of their economies to U.N. relief appeals than some richer countries. She did not name the laggard donors, but figures issued by the U.N. in Geneva showed that last year Britain contributed sums equal to only 0.015 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) and the United States only 0.008 percent. In contrast Sweden paid a sum equal to 0.033 percent of its GDP, Norway 0.03 percent, Luxembourg 0.029 percent, the Netherlands 0.025 and Ireland 0.024 percent. The U.N.'s 2007 Humanitarian Appeal was launched on Nov. 30 by then Secretary-General Kofi Annan. He asked for a prompt response to enable relief agencies to start planning on the basis of concrete pledges. "It may seem still early in the year to some, but people struggling to survive in Chad, Somalia or Zimbabwe cannot wait," said Kasidis Rochanakorn, director of the Geneva branch of the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Apart from those three countries, the appeal wants money to help 27 million people suffering from floods, drought and other natural disasters as well as from the side effects of conflict.
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