INGLÊS
By Colum Lynch
Washington Post Staff Writer
UNITED NATIONS -- In the three weeks since the Indian Ocean tsunami ripped up coastlines in Asia and Africa, the United Nations has credited more than 40 governments, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank with unprecedented pledges of assistance valued at nearly billion.
But a closer look at those commitments shows that hundreds of millions of dollars in those pledges had already been committed to development projects in the region. And as much as half of the offers are for interest-free loans, which the United Nations traditionally does not count as humanitarian aid.
The tsunami relief effort illustrates how large pledges of aid have historically yielded far less cash than was promised for humanitarian relief and recovery efforts. And it underscores why the United Nations – which asked for nearly billion to fund its tsunami relief and reconstruction efforts over the next six months – remains concerned that money may not be available to finance relief efforts, despite commitments made worldwide.
Over the past two years, the United Nations has faced a shortfall of billion in funding for relief operations and for rebuilding countries devastated by civil conflicts or natural disasters. In many cases, countries simply have not followed through on large public pledges of support.
U.N. officials and aid experts say that the challenge in accurately tallying aid pledges is that governments rarely explain whether their contributions consist of new money, loans or a repackaging of earlier announced development assistance meant to increase the apparent size of their donation.
"Governments have traditionally played political theater with aid pledges," said Shepard Forman, the director of New York University's Center on International Cooperation, who has studied aid disbursements. "There have been lots of smoke and mirrors in the amounts pledged by governments, and there is almost no way to track it."
Meanwhile, U.N. officials are left to thank nations for their generous assistance and promises, while at the same time drawing attention to the large gap between the pledges and the money currently available to fund relief operations.
(Adapted from Washington Post, Friday, January 14, 2005)
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