States failing to pay tsunami pledges

[SillyGoose]

Almost two-thirds of the money promised by governments to help the millions of people affected by the Indian Ocean tsunami has not yet been received by the UN, confirming the fear that many countries would try to wriggle out of their commitments.

Margareta Wahlstrom, the secretary general Kofi Annan's special envoy, said the UN's appeal for an urgent $977m (£525m) to fund the first six months of emergency relief work had been met mostly by written commitments, and only $360m had so far been received.

Speaking yesterday in Geneva, Ms Wahlstrom urged governments to pay up.

"This is our key message to government donors: please convert your pledges into hard cash in the bank," she said.

<more>

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tsunami/story/0,15671,1408047,00.html

[Spazito]

1. The UN should publicly list those countries...

so the citizens of those countries can put pressure on their governments to pay up. Once the light is shone on them, I bet they would pay up but if they are kept under the generic 'some countries' there is little incentive for them to ante up.

[SpiralHawk]

2. "The check is in the mail" - BushCo

"Administration experts agree: everything is just fine!"

[Red State Rebel]

3. How do we know the US is one of them?

Please don't jump to conclusions.

[central scrutinizer]

4. their track record is not good so far

Bushco has reneged on many pledges in the past: money to rebuild New York City after 9/11, money for AIDS, development money for Africa, relief after the Iranian earthquake. So it is natural to assume they are following their old pattern: once the TV cameras are off, break all promises. But, you are right, we should wait until we see the numbers.

[fooj]

5. Like Shrub is going to make good on his promise?

Right.

[highnooner]

6. I seriously doubt the US

is funneling money through the UN in light of its recent scandals.

[daleo]

7. Interesting statistic in the Guardian article link

I not that some 3500 tourists are still not claimed by any country. There seems to be a reluctance to make numbers public:

Some 3,936 foreign tourists are dead, missing or unaccounted for after the Indian Ocean tsunami hit coasts and devastated beach resorts on December 26. The following are foreign tourists reported killed, based on figures provided by the countries.

Argentina 2
Austria 13
Australia 15
Belgium 6
Brazil 2
Britain 53
Canada 6
China 3
Croatia 1
Czech Republic 1
Denmark 8
Estonia 3
Finland 2
France 22
Germany 60
Greece 8
Hong Kong 12
Hungary 10
Ireland 2
Israel 4
Italy 20
Japan 24
Luxembourg 2
Malta 1
Mexico 1
Netherlands 9
New Zealand 2
Norway 12
Poland 1
Portugal 8
Russia 2
Singapore 9
South Africa 11
South Korea 12
Spain2
Sweden 52
Switzerland 23
Taiwan 3
Turkey 1
United States 35

Total 430