ACTIVITIES OF SECRETARY-GENERAL IN MALDIVES, 9 – 10 JANUARY

Secretary-General Kofi Annan arrived in the Maldive islands on Sunday, 9 January, from Sri Lanka.  It was the third and last of the earthquake- and tsunami-affected countries he would visit on this trip.  He was the first Secretary-General ever to visit the nation, made up of nearly 1,200 islands, only 200 of which are inhabited.

He first conferred with his country team -- the representatives of United Nations agencies working in the country.  He then met with the United Nations staff at large.

After that, he visited the Government’s National Disaster Management Centre and then sat with a number of ministers for a presentation on the impact of the tsunami on the Maldives.  The wave hit the main island a little after 9 on the morning of 26 December.  The land is only about a metre and a half above sea level, and the tidal wave was up to four metres high.  It washed across the island, and all the other islands, leaving a number of them uninhabitable.  Over 80 people were confirmed dead, with some 26 missing.  The low death toll was in part due to the fact that virtually all the residents could swim.  Some 12,000 people were displaced.

The Maldives had had several good years economically, had paid off a substantial portion of its debt and was looking forward to a strong performance in 2005.  The United Nations had officially removed it from the list of least developed countries just six days before the tsunami struck.  One minister estimated that the disaster set back the country’s development by 20 years.

That evening, the Secretary-General met with President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.  Afterwards, before going to dinner together, they each made a brief statement to the press.  The Secretary-General offered his condolences to those who lost loved ones.  But he said one also has to think of the survivors.  On reconstruction, he urged the Government to think in terms of “recovery-plus” -- not just rebuilding what was there, but improving on it.

In closing he said, “I promised you in the past that I would come and visit you, but I didn’t know it would take a tsunami to bring me here.”  He then concluded by saying, “you can count on us as partners as you move ahead to rebuild your country”.

On Monday morning, the Secretary-General travelled by sea plane south from the capital of Malé to visit two villages especially hard hit by the tsunami.

The first village he touched down at was Vilufushi, in Kolhumadulu Atoll.  (The word atoll is derived from the Maldivian “atholu” and is the only Maldivian word to have found its way into the English vocabulary.)

Vilufushi, formerly a fishing village, was busy, with girls sweeping debris onto fabric slings, then dumping them into wheel barrows that were then carted away by men.  Almost 95 per cent of the houses were destroyed.  People sought shelter on adjacent islands and returned early each morning to continue the clean up.  Volunteers from Malé and other islands were also there to help, and most were wearing special tee-shirts and were highly motivated.

German water specialists had found that most of the fresh water wells had been contaminated and were desalinating sea water for drinking.  The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) was involved in getting the hospital functioning again, and the World Health Organization (WHO) had contributed emergency health kits.

The Secretary-General and his wife Nane talked with villagers, including children, and walked through the hospital and the school.  Both buildings were sturdy and had withstood the waves.  Fishing boats were capsized in what were once streets.  Rubble was everywhere.  But the organizers of the recovery were proud of what they were accomplishing and conveyed their enthusiasm.

The Secretary-General then flew to the next atoll to the north, Meema, where he landed at Kolhuvaariyaafushi, a village of about 1,000 people that had survived on both fishing and farming, harvesting bananas and mangoes.  The death toll from the tsunami was relatively high –- 18, mostly small children and the elderly.  Only 5 per cent of the houses were still standing and the fruit trees had been wiped out.  The survivors were housed in tents along the beach and were busy putting up scaffolding for a large temporary structure.

Children were clustered on the beach.  Some were busy drawing under adult supervision, which turned out to be a kind of stress therapy.  Others were laughing, clapping, and singing.  Everyone was anxious to rebuild.  The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) was planning to help with repairs, starting with kitchens so that fresh fish could be smoked and preserved.

Returning to Malé, the Secretary-General told reporters at a press conference that “the community and voluntary spirit which I saw here also encourages me to know that you will be able to rebuild and carry on”.

He said that he was leaving the Maldives “with a very clear understanding of what your problems are and I think it will help as I discuss the matter with my colleagues in New York and elsewhere”.

Asked about the impact of the release of the United Nations internal audits of the “oil-for-food” programme, the Secretary-General responded, “Well, I think that it does show that the programme was being audited and that attempts were made to try to correct whatever weaknesses existed in the system, and I’m happy that we have now been able to release the documents.  And that is precisely what had been agreed with Mr. Volcker.”

After the press conference the Secretary-General flew to Mauritius to attend the International Meeting for the 10-year Review of the Barbados Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States.