Press Release: President Clinton Urges Protection of Marginalized Communities and Restoration of Livelihoods in Tsunami-affected Countries
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton today met with senior United Nations (UN), World Bank, non-governmental organization (NGO) and private sector officials in an effort to tackle the immediate challenges facing the tsunami affected countries. The former President held in-depth discussions about the protection of marginalized communities as well as the restoration of livelihoods throughout the region. He met with the UN’s Special Representative on Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), Walter Kalin, and was briefed on the living conditions of the hundreds of thousands of displaced people living in temporary shelters in Aceh by the UN Resident Coordinator for Indonesia, Bo Asplund.
“The tsunami affected population throughout the region remains especially vulnerable. Hundreds of thousands remain displaced and have yet to obtain gainful employment and countless parents and children have endured trauma,” said President Clinton in his capacity as UN Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery. “Our experience from other natural disasters tells us that people are much more vulnerable when their protective environments–their families, communities and social institutions–have been damaged or destroyed,” he added.
President Clinton noted that his concerns about the protection of marginalized communities and equitable access to recovery resources applied across the region.
“The primary constituency of all those engaged in tsunami recovery must be the victims of this disaster, and a successful reconstruction effort should ensure the protection of vulnerable populations,” said President Clinton. “Any definition of building back better must include a commitment to transparency and accountability, good governance and tolerance, in which affected communities are able to consult freely on the vital decisions that impact their futures,” he said. “I am encouraged that officials in the region are recognizing the importance of these themes, which are supported by programs of the United Nations and other international organizations.”
President Clinton stated that it is equally important to ensure the quick restoration of livelihoods to the tens of thousands of people who lost their jobs as a result of the tsunami and to set these communities on a more secure development path. Those who were the hardest hit by the tsunami fall out of the formal economy–they are fishermen, farmers, women, and people running small enterprises.
At President Clinton’s Global Consortium meeting on tsunami recovery last month, the affected governments, the World Bank, the United Nations Development Program, the International Organization for Migration, bilateral donors, and a range of NGOs agreed to better focus and coordinate their efforts in promoting livelihoods. Building upon this agreement, the former President highlighted the need to diversify local economies (beyond agriculture and fisheries), build capacity and strengthen local markets to ensure that any jobs created today are sustainable in the long term. The former President also stressed the need for programs directed at women, as they often have less access to employment, are widowed or are single mothers with young children.
President Clinton noted that the affected communities themselves must be fully involved in decision-making process affecting their livelihood. “We need to allow the people in each affected country to decide how to seize the opportunity to diversify their local economies. While they will be in a better position to do so if they have access to credit and other support, they must make their own choices about which ideas and opportunities to pursue,” he said.
President Clinton’s meetings today highlighted the overlap between humanitarian needs and the long-term recovery effort in the tsunami affected countries. “Humanitarian and recovery requirements do not occur in strict sequence; even as we attend to the latter we cannot ignore ongoing relief needs,” he said. The former President supported recent calls for a Global Emergency Fund, which would provide aid agencies sufficient funds to begin life-saving relief work within 72 hours of a crisis.
“The recent earthquake in Pakistan is a stark reminder of the urgent need to ensure that aid agencies can immediately tap into sufficient funding for emergency work,” President Clinton added. “The creation of a Global Emergency Fund is a cost-effective way to ensure that lives are saved in the immediate aftermath of natural disasters, and it is the right thing to do.”
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