UN tsunami recovery envoy Bill Clinton urges protection of marginalized communities

The United Nations Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery, former United States President Bill Clinton, today held a series of meetings in New York to underscore the importance of restoring livelihoods and protecting marginalized communities in countries devastated in the Indian Ocean region last December.

He met with senior representatives of the UN, World Bank, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and private sector companies in an effort to tackle the challenges facing the tsunami-affected countries, UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

Among those with whom Mr. Clinton discussed problems and solutions were the UN's Special Representative on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), Walter Kalin.

The UN Resident Coordinator for Indonesia, Bo Asplund, briefed President Clinton on the conditions endured by the hundreds of thousands of displaced people living in temporary shelters in Aceh, Indonesia, Mr. Dujarric said.