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ICRC to carry on with tsunami aid in Lanka, Indonesia

THE International Committee of the Red Cross said yesterday it would continue to provide aid to victims of the recent tsunami and earthquakes in Indonesia and Sri Lanka until reconstruction efforts "produce results".

Although the ICRC will shift its focus back to humanitarian work related to the internal conflicts in Sri Lanka and the Indonesian province of Aceh, the Geneva-based agency said many quake victims still depended on emergency aid.

"Most tsunami survivors still live in difficult conditions," said Reto Meister, the organisation's delegate-general for Asia and the Pacific.

"Many of them have lost everything and they still depend on humanitarian aid to rebuild their lives," he added in a statement.

The international assistance operation in the areas around the Indian Ocean devastated by the earthquake and tsunami in December is moving away from emergency aid to recovery and reconstruction.

The ICRC said that "for the rest of 2005 it will go on endeavouring to bridge the gap until reconstruction begins producing results" in the two countries.

More than 220,000 people were killed in 12 countries and hundreds of thousands of others were left homeless by the deadly waves that were sparked by a huge undersea earthquake off the west coast of Indonesia.

Aceh and Sri Lanka suffered the most damage. - AFP

Education system in tsunami hit areas being revived - Mangala

SRI LANKA is now in the process of recovering from the massive devastation of December 26 which claimed over 31,000 innocent lives and destroyed more than a third of our idyllic coastline. The education system in the coastline was severely disrupted with 102 schools damaged with nearly 80,000 students affected and 78 schools were completely destroyed, Ports, Aviation Information and Media and Deputy Education Minister and Sri Lanka Representative to the Executive Board of UNESCO Mangala Samaraweera said.

Addressing the 171th session of the Executive Board of UNESCO last week, Minister Samaraweera said that the Government and the people of Sri Lanka were able to get the situation under control and reconstruction work began within four weeks of the disaster.

Welcoming the initiative taken by the Director General in preparing a comprehensive mapping and implementation plan of the current and future contributions of each partner in realising Education for All (EFA) at global, regional and national levels in keeping with the Dakar framework, the Minister said it was `very impressive'.

"Education has been recognised as a priority indispensable for human capacity development. Sri Lanka has taken steps to incorporate quality mechanisms in its policies in the education sector and other fields of competence," he said.

Paying tribute to the international community for its generosity in time of need, the Minister said that seven donor countries have undertaken repairs and reconstruction of all the schools and all the students affected have been allocated other schools so that their education can continue uninterrupted.

"It was most heartening to note that we were not alone in dealing with the aftermath of this terrible tragedy. We appreciate UNESCO's leading role in the establishment of a Tsunami Early Warning System in the Indian Ocean Region," he said.

Delivering his statement the Minister underscored the importance of UNESCO harmonising its priorities within the United Nations System to achieve maximum results for those most in need.

"Duplication of work within the United Nations system, especially considering that budgetary difficulties faced across the board is completely undesirable.

This not only dissipates valuable human and financial resources but also creates unnecessary confusion which could be easily avoided.

Therefore it is important that UNESCO clearly identifies the priorities based on the needs of the member states," he added. This organisation holds a unique position in the United Nations family due to its noble ideals, vision and purpose.

Sri Lanka, a member of this organisation since 1948 remains deeply committed to these ideals, vision and purpose and stands wiling to serve this organisation with all member states and the Director General, the Minister said.

Khalid