U.S. Water News Online
UNITED NATIONS -- Former President Clinton has launched a $45 million appeal with the U.N. children's agency to provide clean water and sanitation to victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami and said he expected the United States in the long run to contribute billions of dollars to rebuild the devastated areas.
Clinton and former President George H.W. Bush were appointed by President Bush to increase private donations after the Dec. 26 earthquake off Indonesia triggered deadly waves that swept across southeast Asia to Africa -- and Clinton said more than one-third of a billion dollars already has been donated to charities.
But he said he also tried to determine whether there was "an area of critical need" where there was not enough money to meet the immediate and longer-term needs of the millions of people affected by the tsunami, especially children.
"Our inquiries determined that in the weeks and months ahead more resources will be needed to provide clean water and adequate sanitation both for survival and for the prevention of disease," Clinton said. "The initial inquiry that we made ... was that we ought to try to raise another $45 million for this purpose alone."
The new fund is a joint project of the Clinton Foundation and the United Nations Children's Fund, and Clinton said he and his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., made the first contribution, which was not disclosed.
The money raised will be used by UNICEF, working with other relief organizations, "to make sure that we do everything we can to keep people alive and to prevent the spread of disease," Clinton said.
"Diseases such as dysentery and diarrhea accompany absence of clean water -- the presence of polluted water -- and they disproportionately impact children," he said.
UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy told a news conference that at least one-third of the more than 150,000 people killed in the tsunami are believed to have been children, and more than 1 million children are homeless.
"Providing safe water and clean sanitation is the foundation for keeping children alive, keeping them healthy, providing for their future." Bellamy said.
"It will not be easy. Water systems have been destroyed. They've been polluted. They've been clogged, or they've been spoiled with sea water. Re-establishing safe sources of water and decent sanitation is essential for the recovery of the communities involved."
Clinton praised the outpouring of support for the tsunami victims and expressed hope that the $45 million would be raised quickly.
He said millions of people around the world have offered help for the victims in what he called a "revolution in small-donor giving." He expressed hope that these new donors might help millions of others who live without clean water, sanitation and schools escape from poverty and disease.
The United States has pledged $350 million in aid to the tsunami victims. Nations worldwide have pledged more than $4 billion.
Clinton said most of that public money is needed for long-term reconstruction.
"So I'll be quite surprised if the United States doesn't wind up contributing in the billions to this effort over the long run," he said. "I think we'll do our part.
"Our country, our Congress has not been very good historically, including when I was president, in supporting foreign assistance at an appropriate level. But we have been very good in dealing with the aftermath of disasters."
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