UNDP and UN Staff Finalize Plans for Staff Donations Slated for
Tsunami Recovery
2 December, New York —The UN Staff Relief Committee
for Tsunami Victims, which collected $245,477 has signed an agreement
with the United Nations Development Programme to implement a range
of projects to help tsunami survivors rebuild their lives. With
the UN Foundation matching the staff contribution, the total funding
for the programmes amounts to almost $500,000.
Hafiz Pasha of UNDP and Shihana Mohamed of the UN Staff Relief Committee
for Tsunami Victims signing the agreement.
The staff donations will fund programmes that will directly provide
benefits to the people affected by the tsunami, including housing,
livelihoods and critical infrastructure in Indonesia, the Maldives
and Sri Lanka. One new programme is aimed at improving livelihood
opportunities for women in Aceh; another will help rebuild or repair
63 houses on Mathiveri Island in the Maldives, and in Sri Lanka,
a programme will help restore livelihoods, including marginalized
groups such as handloom weavers in the East and lace makers in the
South.
At today’s agreement signing ceremony, Shihana Mohamed, Chairperson
of the Relief Committee, said it was inspiring how people responded.
“The solidarity and feeling for the victims was tremendous,”
she said. “Some staff members even contributed twice.”
The funds were raised during the first three months following last
December’s tsunami, which killed about 231,000 people. Ms.
Mohamed said the fundraising extended to staff in all the agencies
and was supplemented by six well attended fundraising events.
Hafiz Pasha, UN Assistant Administrator and Director for the UNDP
Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, said the timing of the
contribution is critical, coming at a time when the UN is moving
beyond the emergency Flash Appeal period and into the mid-term recovery
and longer-term reconstruction phase. “The timing is perfect
and the contribution is very significant,” he said, adding
that UNDP would exercise the highest standards of accountability
and transparency in using the funds, which represent the collective
solidarity of the UN staff from all over the world towards the tsunami
victims and survivors.
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