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UN tsunami envoy Clinton returns to Sri Lanka, Indonesia, as anniversary nears

UN tsunami envoy Clinton returns to Sri Lanka, Indonesia, as anniversary nears

Special Envoy Bill Clinton
With the one-year anniversary of the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami approaching, former United States President Bill Clinton, United Nations Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery, returned to Sri Lanka today, praising the recovery progress already made but warning that there was still more to do.

“If we are to truly build back better, we need to ensure that the recovery effort does not exacerbate existing inequities,” Mr. Clinton said of the island nation where the 26 December tsunami killed some 30,000 people and displaced some 516,000 more.

“Building better roads and schools is essential, but it is not enough. We need to ensure that all people in Sri Lanka are on their way to a better and safer development path than they were prior to this tragedy,” he added.

Mr. Clinton, on his second visit to the country in his UN capacity, met with key members of the government, the UN and civil society to assess the status of the recovery effort and how best to tackle ongoing challenges, including the quick restoration of livelihoods and the equitable distribution of aid.

“Almost one year after the devastating tsunami struck the coast of Sri Lanka, real progress has been achieved: 90 percent of children are back in school, epidemics have been prevented and transitional shelter has been provided to almost all internally displaced people,” he said in Colombo, the capital.

“There is still more to be done and efforts must focus on maintaining the shelters as the monsoon season approaches, providing jobs to the hundreds of thousands of people who lost their source of livelihood as a result of the tsunami, and the construction of permanent homes,” he added.

Mr. Clinton's trip to Sri Lanka is part of his visit to the tsunami affected region nearly one year after the tsunami struck 12 countries killing over 230,000 people and displacing an estimated 1.5 million. Tomorrow, he will go to Aceh, Indonesia, which accounted for some two thirds of the casualties, to meet with government, UN, civil society and private sector representatives as well as with members of affected communities there.

Meanwhile, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) announced today that it has extended its operations in Indonesia and Sri Lanka through 2007 for 1.5 million tsunami victims but will phase out of the Maldives and Somalia by the end of the year.

WFP will focus assistance on the most vulnerable: children, new mothers, the elderly and displaced people,” WFP Regional Director for Asia Anthony Banbury said. “We will be there until people are back on their feet and have regained the livelihoods they lost.”

Aid will be provided to approximately 1.2 million people in Indonesia and 347,000 in Sri Lanka. At the peak of the operation in May, WFP provided food aid to 2.24 million people in six countries across the tsunami zone.

“By providing food aid, WFP allows these people to focus on rebuilding their lives, their homes and their assets without worrying where the next meal is coming from,” Mr. Banbury said.