tsunami

Former US President Clinton visits Asia for last time as UN tsunami envoy

Former United States President Bill Clinton starts his last visit to Asia today as the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery, making stops in India, Thailand and Indonesia to review rebuilding progress after the ravages of the 2004 disaster that killed over 230,000 people and affected more than 12 countries in the region.

Annan lauds tsunami envoy Bill Clinton, says the UN will continue his rebuilding efforts

Marking the final meeting of the international consortium set up to deal with the ravages of the deadly 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today praised former United States President Bill Clinton for making a “profound difference” to millions of survivors of the disaster.

UN Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery receives reports on restoration progress

The United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery, former United States President Bill Clinton, is attending two meetings in New York today, including one at which leading U.S.-based nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) will present a series of reports on lessons learned from their recovery work.

Deputy UN envoy for tsunami recovery deplores rising bloodshed in Sri Lanka

The United Nations’ Deputy Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery today added his voice to the chorus of alarm at reports that more than 200 civilians had been killed and thousands more displaced during the past two months in fresh fighting between Government forces and Tamil rebels in Sri Lanka.

UN tsunami envoy Bill Clinton welcomes political reform progress in the Maldives

The Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery, former United States President Bill Clinton, today welcomed the release of an opposition leader in the Maldives and the commitment by the archipelago’s Government to undertake further political reform as it rebuilds in the wake of the disaster.

Coastal residents of Indian Ocean States must be ‘tsunami-savvy’: UNESCO

People living along the coast in vulnerable Indian Ocean countries must learn to be “tsunami-savvy” to survive, while authorities must have solid planning in place to evacuate affected areas, a senior official from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) warned today, just over two weeks after a deadly wave killed almost 700 people in Indonesia and displaced tens of thousands.

Latest tsunami shows need for complete warning system: UN regional group

Following last week’s tsunami that killed hundreds of people on the south-central coast of the Indonesian island of Java, the head of a United Nations regional development commission called today for more comprehensive coverage from the warning systems now being developed in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and the devastating waves it created.

As UN aid is distributed in Indonesia, tsunami official focuses on warning system

Expressing his condolences to Indonesia after this week’s deadly earthquake and resulting tsunami, a United Nations official stressed the importance today of disaster early warning systems, as emergency UN food assistance and other supplies were distributed to the tens of thousands displaced by Monday’s disaster that killed at least 500 people on the island of Java.

Annan ‘saddened’ by toll of latest tsunami; UN agency assesses warning system

Expressing condolences for the hundreds killed by the latest tsunami to hit Indonesia, Secretary-General Kofi Annan today offered humanitarian and reconstruction assistance, as the head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Agency (UNESCO) assessed the strengths and gaps in the Indian Ocean warning system revealed by the event.

UN-backed tsunami early warning system set to become operation in Indian Ocean

Eighteen months after the Indian Ocean tsunami killed more than 200,000 people in a dozen countries, a United Nations-backed early warning system, which experts say could have saved scores of thousands of lives had it existed at the time, is on schedule to become operational for the entire region by the end of July.