Statement of Finland by Pertti Majanen, Under Secretary of State, at the Geneva donors' meeting

Statement of Finland by Under Secretary of State Pertti Majanen at the meeting at ministerial level on humanitarian assistance to Tsunami affected communities, Geneva, 11 January 2005

Mr. Chairman,

Finland, her government and people, join in the global sorrow we all share for the victims of the devastating catastrophe. Like in many other countries, this is the worst-ever peace-time catastrophe that has ever happened to our citizens - in a small country practically everybody has been either directly or indirectly affected. With a deep compassion we share the grief of those people in the affected region who have practically lost everything, in terms of life, homes and livelihood. Common sorrow and suffering has brought us closer. It's one globe, it's one human kind.

Let me also avail myself of this opportunity and express the gratitude of the Finnish government to all those authorities and people, who in spite of their own losses did everything to help their guests, the foreign tourists. For the part of the Finns this took place especially in Phuket in Thailand, for which I wish to express our gratitude through the Thai-delegation.

Mr. Chairman,

Finland has participated in the humanitarian aid efforts from the very start of the crisis. We have tried to react to appeals as they have been launched, and since they have shown how the catastrophe has grown into unparalleled proportions, we have also increased our humanitarian efforts.

Finland pledges a total of 50 million euros to assist the affected countries. Out of this sum 20 million euros is directed to humanitarian aid, and 30 million euros to reconstruction over the years 2005-2007 and directed mainly to Indonesia and Sri Lanka.

Finland began disbursing humanitarian aid through the Finnish Red Cross on 27 December. We also reacted to the first UN appeals by channeling funding on 29 December through the World Food Programme, UNICEF and WHO. We have since then increased our assistance to each of these organizations and channeled funds also through Finnish non-governmental organizations. We are currently studying new appeals, our key criteria in decision-making being that aid is provided efficiently and rapidly to those people most urgently in need of it.

Mr. Chairman,

We are painfully aware of the fact that the humanitarian needs are enormous, but at the same time we are heartened by that the international response has been so spontaneous and generous. We sincerely hope that this generosity will continue both at the level of governments, civil society, the private sector and private individuals.

At the same time it is of course equally important to honour commitments, and to ensure that these generous pledges will immediately be turned into concrete transfers of money and then implemented speedily and effectively. This can only be done if coordination works smoothly between all actors on the ground. We are strongly supportive of the lead role that the UN has assumed in this coordination effort.

Let me however at this point also take up another point, which is very important to us. The Asian crisis, which has evolved to become the largest natural catastrophe of our time, should not endanger our commitment to other ongoing - or new - humanitarian crises, especially in the poorest regions of the world.

The amount of forgotten crises should not increase, and we should also make it a point of honor that this latest natural catastrophe, which has touched all our lives, should never in the years to come be found on this list.

Mr. Chairman,

Finland wishes to underline the need to coordinate humanitarian and reconstruction activities to assure a seamless transition between these two modes of assistance. They are so closely interlinked that it is often difficult to see where relief actually turns into reconstruction. In concrete terms this means that the use of funds should be flexible. When the need arises, humanitarian resources - if and when still available - should also be used for the next phase.

As I announced at the beginning of my intervention, Finland will participate in international burden-sharing also by supporting reconstruction activities in the tsunami-affected areas.

In reconstruction, the role of multilateral development organizations and financing institutions is central. Finland deems it pertinent that reconstruction funds overseen by these organizations and institutions be established to fund priorities set by the national governments of the affected countries themselves.

Finnish assistance to reconstruction will be channeled mainly through such multilateral reconstruction funds. The effectiveness of the reconstruction effort must be assured by paying specific attention to the coordination of operations between individual funds established.

Once the needs for reconstruction assistance have been assessed, Finland will consider also the channeling of bilateral reconstruction assistance to the tsunami-affected areas, Sri Lanka and Indonesia in particular.

On the basis of our preliminary findings, bilateral assistance founded on Finnish expertise could prove particularly useful in reconstruction efforts in water and sanitation, as well as in the environmental sector.

Finland is ready to contribute through the United Nations Environment Programme to post-disaster environmental assessment in the region, including risk reduction. Reconstruction should help recover also the fragile coastal ecosystems.

Finland is also working in order to contribute to the development of an early warning system for natural catastrophes.

With respect to Indonesia, Finland is ready to freeze annual repayments relating to bilateral development credit, which totals approximately 4.8 million euros.

I would like to close by emphasizing just two points that in my view are crucial to the planning of all further activities in the tsunami-affected areas. Particular attention must be paid to the building of local communities' and authorities' capacities. Also, special consideration must be given to vulnerable groups, namely women and children, the latter of which are estimated to account for one-third of all victims of the catastrophe.


Thank you Mr. Chairman.