UNDP will integrate risk reduction into recovery and reconstruction programmes in the Asian tsunami aftermath. The aim is to avoid as early as possible rebuilding pre-existing risks and vulnerabilities in the devastated areas. The Government of India/UNDP Vulnerability Reduction Programme has deployed experienced national UN Volunteers to the most affected countries to support coordination and recovery efforts. The UNDP Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery (BCPR) has received offers of support from other UNDP Country Offices, and will ensure such expertise makes an impact.

On the fifth day after the devastating tsunami disasters that affected the coastal areas of most of Sri Lanka UNDP support to emergency operations has further intensified. UNDP continues to provide continuous secretariat support to the UNRC for the convening of daily briefing meetings for the international community, and in serving as the clearinghouse for up-to-date information on the status of needs and donor emergency relief efforts. The Resident Coordinator visited the south and the north of the country to see firsthand the devastated areas. He has met several times with the Presdient, and is in constant touch with top authorities overseeing the Government’s relief efforts. He has also held discussions with the political leadership of the LTTE on the specific situation in the North and East
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More information: Earthquakes and Tsunamis in Asia: UNDP Update No. 4 // Relief web coverage // UNDP Sri Lanka Country Office // DRU and Sri Lanka // Sri Lanka National Disaster Management Center // Sri Lanka Updates

The UN will launch a flash appeal on 6 January 2005 to carry out an enormous relief effort in Southeast Asian countries devastated by quake and tidal waves, which has killed over 100,000 people and rendered millions homeless. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has already called for a generous response, warning that the “needs are enormous” which may require billions of dollars.

A United Nations Disaster Assistance and Coordination team arrived in Thailand Tuesday night to assist the Royal Thai Government and the UN Country Team with the relief operations in the disaster stricken Southern Thailand. The five-person team from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (UNOCHA) is made up of experts in the areas of disaster relief coordination, medical support, telecommunications, and information. The team is accompanied by the UN Resident Coordinator in Thailand and representatives from UNICEF, World Food Programme, and the World Health Organization. The role of the UN team is to provide strategic support to the Government in the monumental task of coordinating the relief operations. It will also undertake needs assessments and assist the Government in coordinating international assistance.
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More information: DRU and Thailand // Relief web coverage // Thailand Updates

With the United Nations health agency warning that up to 5 million people in Southeast Asia are without basic services after Sunday's devastating tsunami, Secretary-General Kofi Annan today chaired a top level emergency meeting to oversee what may turn out to be the largest ever UN relief effort for a natural disaster. "This is an unprecedented, global catastrophe and it requires an unprecedented, global response," Mr. Annan told a news conference after rushing back to UN Headquarters in New York from an interrupted holiday to convene a session of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) as reports put the death toll at close to 120,000 and still rising, the number of injured at half a million and those displaced at 1 million.
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UNDP and the UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination team are working with the Government in establishing a system to identify immediate needs and to track aid requirements and supply in the Maldives, where tidal waves on Sunday displaced 200,000 people, who now have no food, water or sanitation. Transport and logistics remain a huge challenge in emergency relief, as affected populations are found in more than 200 islands.
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More information: DRU and Maldives // Relief web coverage // Maldives Updates

On 26 December 2004, the tsunami that hit many parts of Southeast Asia also struck Puntland in the Horn of Africa. Coastal communities between the island of Hafun in the Bari region and the village of Garacad in Mudug, a 650-kilometre stretch of coastline, were particularly affected.Latest figures report that at least 114 people have died, over 100 fishing boats are missing and many more people remain unaccounted for. Villages in the area have been either fully or partially submerged and livestock and livelihoods lost in an area predominantly reliant on fishing and pastoralism.
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More information: Earthquakes and Tsunamis in Asia: UNDP Update No. 4 // Relief web coverage // UNDP Somalia Country Office // DRU and Somalia

Devastating Tsunami disasters emanating from two major earthquakes in Indonesia and Andaman and Nicobar Islands respectively affected the coastal areas of most of Sri Lanka on the morning of 26 December 2004. More than 12 of the total 25 districts of Sri Lanka were severely affected. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) immediately mobilized its financial and human resources to assist the Government of Sri Lanka in emergency relief to the affected area. Within a few hours of the disaster, the UNDP Country Office redeployed its team of UN Volunteers working on disaster management in the southern districts to some of the worst affected districts and UNDP Headquarters released an initial allocation US$100,000.
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More information: Earthquakes and Tsunamis in Asia: UNDP Update No. 2 // Relief web coverage // UNDP Sri Lanka Country Office // DRU and Sri Lanka // Sri Lanka National Disaster Management Center // Sri Lanka Updates

At this time of national disaster, the United Nations system in the Maldives, reaffirms its support to the Government and people of the Maldives, in the ongoing efforts of disaster management and emergency response. The UN team in the Maldives is has been regularly assessing the situation and developments and working with the Government to respond to the needs of those affected. For this purpose, US $ 300,000 of immediate emergency funds is being released and in-kind support procured.
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More information: DRU and Maldives // Relief web coverage // Maldives Updates

Crisis prevention and recovery experts deployed throughout region; UN to launch flash appeal.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) today rushed in an initial US$500,000 in emergency assistance for the victims of the devastating tsunami that struck South Asia as the UN prepares to launch a flash appeal to fund aid to all the affected countries, where media reports put the latest death toll at over 20,000, with more than 10,000 in Sri Lanka alone. UNDP’s disaster relief plan also includes immediate deployment of its most experienced technical staff from the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery (BCPR) to the stricken countries.
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More information: Earthquakes and Tsunamis in Asia: UNDP Update No. 1 // Relief web coverage // OCHA Situation Reports

A massive earthquake of magnitude 8.9, hit Indonesia (off the West Coast of Northern Sumatra) yesterday morning at 06:58 a.m. This earthquake is the biggest in 40 years and the fifth in Indonesia and it triggered the tsunami waves in Southeast Asia and coastal India. Another Earthquake of Magnitude 7.3 occurred 81 kms West of Pulo Kunji (Great Nicobar) at 9:51:26 AM (IST). United Nations relief experts are heading to the region to help coordinate the international response to the massive tidal waves which followed the earthquake. Additional UN emergency staff is being sent to reinforce the world body's capacity to support government response efforts. Immediate humanitarian needs include portable sanitation facilities, medical supplies, tents and helicopters to evacuate people in the crisis spots. "The United Nations stands ready to provide the assistance necessary to meet the needs created by these natural disasters", a spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a statement released in New York, extending “sincere condolences to the people and governments of the countries affected as they cope with their catastrophic losses.”
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More information: UN Situation Reports: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // Relief web coverage // Situation Map // Statement attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General on the earthquake
Background Information : Global report - Reducing Disaster Risk // DRU and Asia // OCHA Situation Reports