| By John O'Shea
Published in Irish Times on 30th December 2004
Leadership. That's what's needed most now. Co-ordination of the
massive relief effort represents probably the greatest challenge
to the international community, as it digests the horror and ramifications
of the south-east Asia tidal catastrophe.
As thousands of well-meaning groups and organisations apply themselves
to the relief of suffering in 11 countries, the absence of a co-ordinating
force could ultimately hamper the delivery of essential supplies.
This tragedy represents an ideal opportunity for the international
community to prove to the cynics and others that the world does
truly care about the vulnerable.
Proper co-ordination is essential - and this means the UN taking
a pivotal role.
Unquestionably the UN is a seriously flawed organisation - but
it is, for the time being, the only gig in town. It must show by
the strength of its actions over the coming days that it has the
will and the determination to head the relief and rehabilitation
effort. In short, it is being given an oppor-tunity, out of the
blue, to redeem its questionable reputation.
It's abundantly clear that the relief effort will not be a success
unless governments across the globe mobilise their logistical capacity
and bring it to bear on the programme. I see no reason why Kofi
Annan should not use his position to call upon the world leaders
to rally as never before to this cry for assistance.
Honesty is required also. The aid community will do wonders in
the short term - but we are hardly miracle workers. We lack the
capacity to deal effectively with a disaster of this scale.
Armies of logisticians are urgently required as much as the equipment
that they bring with them. They can be found only in the ranks of
the armed forces of the various national armies.
Annan's task should be to use immediately his diplomatic skills
to ensure that this vital capacity factor is utilised to the full.
Some of the countries hit by the tidal wave have already deployed
sections of their army to assist, but much more can and should be
done.
Arguments being presented by some UN officials that we must all
respect the sovereignty of a nation etc should be set aside, in
my opinion, for the imperative of concern for the sovereignty of
the human being. This is a time to focus only on the missing, the
survivors and on making life somewhat bearable for those left behind
to mourn.
To this end the international community must ensure that no stone
is left unturned in the drive to alleviate the suffering of those,
all of those, in greatest need.
The international community has failed in the first phase of its
response to this disaster; there was no early warning system in
place, no strategy. It is time to mobilise all of the necessary
resources to minimise further loss of life and get the various affected
communities back up and running as soon as possible.
This is an opportunity for the people and governments of the world
to work together for the common good, to show that we do care for
people in dire need. It is also an opportunity to learn how we might
better respond to further natural disasters.
Perhaps the size and a scale of the catastrophe might finally convince
people around the globe to think about the weaknesses of the international
ability to respond when disaster strikes. Not only must we rise
to meet that challenge, we must also learn some very serious lessons
from our failure.
For many years GOAL has called for an international rapid response
force, a logistical army, to be kept in readiness to respond to
disasters as soon as they occur. Perhaps now, the UN and other major
bodies will realise that they have not been doing as much as they
should for those who need our help the most.
Meanwhile, GOAL has a team of aid workers in Tamil Nadu in southern
India, where 7,000 people have died. The team has been involved
in distributing medicines, non-food items and providing food for
several thous- and families in Nagatattinam.
GOAL has also responded to the plight in Sri Lanka. A team left
Dublin Airport yesterday for Colombo, while in the coming days they
will be joined by at least a dozen other GOALies (doctors, nurses,
engineers etc).
Donations can be made to GOAL at 01 280 9779, PO Box 19, Dún
Laoghaire, Co Dublin, or online at www.goal.ie.
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