tsunami

UN tsunami envoy Bill Clinton launches major review of key challenges

Former United States President Bill Clinton continued his advocacy as United Nations Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery today by launching a six-month intensive examination of key challenges facing groups working in the area affected by the disaster, which sparked unprecedented financial contributions for relief efforts.

UN plans for early warning system for natural disasters moves forward

United Nations efforts to set up an early warning system that could save tens of thousands of lives in natural disasters moved a further step forward today with an international conference calling for more funds and stressing the vital importance of local communities in readiness training.

UN agency calls for fishing boats in tsunami-affected countries to be safer

Thousands of fishing boats built to replace those destroyed by the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 must meet minimum safety standards, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said today, as it again urged authorities to ensure such standards were adhered to and warned that inferior boatbuilding was undermining the tsunami recovery effort.

UN-backed conference discusses early warning systems for natural disasters

With over 200 million people affected every year by natural hazards, and 15 months after the Indian Ocean tsunami claimed more than 200,000 lives, 1,200 participants from 140 countries today opened a United Nations-backed conference on early warning systems, widely recognized as the best way to save lives.

Former President Clinton, UN tsunami envoy, to promote early warning systems

In an effort to boost the development of preventative systems for natural disasters, Former United States President Bill Clinton, in his role as United Nations Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery, will address the International Early Warning Congress in Bonn, Germany next week.

Tsunami-affected countries need to do even more to protect rights of victims: UN

Although countries devastated by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami have much to be proud of in their respect of the basic rights to shelter, health services and education of victims, the United Nations envoy to the region today urged more be done to protect such rights.

UN official calls for affected communities to have more say in tsunami recovery

Communities affected by the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, that killed more than 220,000 people and displaced an estimated two million across South and Southeast Asia, should be given more say in the recovery effort, a senior United Nations official said today at the end of his 10-day assessment mission to the region.

UN official on tsunami assessment mission in Indonesia and India

More than a year after the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami, a senior United Nations official is travelling in Indonesia and India this week to assess the recovery effort and look at what's being done to provide shelter for the victims displaced by the disaster.

Study showing governments violate human rights of tsunami survivors released at UN

Governments are violating the human rights of their own citizens as tsunami survivors endure discrimination, inadequate housing and assaults one year after the tragedy swept through Southeast Asia, a study released today at United Nations Headquarters in New York says.

One year after massive tsunami, UN officials urge continued aid to victims

One year after a series of earthquakes triggered a massive tsunami which claimed some 200,000 lives in the Indian Ocean region, United Nations officials are calling for continued aid to the survivors and secure funding for future relief operations.