SECRETARY-GENERAL COMMENDS GLOBAL CONSORTIUM ON BEHALF OF TSUNAMI VICTIMS;

PAYS TRIBUTE TO SPECIAL ENVOY BILL CLINTON, ‘DRIVING FORCE’ BEHIND GROUP

Following is United Nations General Kofi Annan’s message to the last Tsunami’s Global Consortium Meeting, delivered by Anne Veneman, Director, UNICEF, New York, 15 November:

Let me start by thanking all members of the Global Consortium for their invaluable work on behalf of East Asia’s tsunami victims.  In particular, let me use the occasion of this final meeting to pay tribute to the driving force behind the group, my Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery, President Bill Clinton.

Mr. President, I know I speak for all in thanking you for your dedication and commitment to the recovery and rehabilitation effort.  You have made a profound difference to the well-being of millions of tsunami survivors.  You have kept the world focused on the imperative of tsunami recovery, you have advanced coordination at the country and global levels and you have promoted transparency and accountability.  Most important, you have effectively championed a new kind of recovery that not only restores what existed previously, but goes beyond, to build back better -- seizing the moral, political, managerial and financial opportunities that the crisis has offered.

From Aceh’s temporary shelter needs to disaster reduction initiatives, from NGO participation to early warning systems, you have seen to it that attention and resources made their way where they were needed most –- all the while ensuring that environmental sustainability and long-term economic revitalization did not fall victim to more immediate reconstruction needs.

Mr. President, you have sought to downplay your achievements.  You have described your role as merely asking people to do what they should have done without your asking them in the first place.  But let me trumpet my Envoy’s contributions:  you have led, inspired, goaded, cajoled and -– when necessary –- pushed all of us to do what we had to and so much more.  That is but one of many reasons why I could not have asked for a better captain of the recovery effort, nor could tsunami victims have wished for a better champion.

In your current role, you have proved not just a friend of the United Nations, you have become family.  And all of us in the UN family look to work in your spirit, for as long as it takes, to help build back better for the thousands of communities impacted by the tsunami.

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For information media • not an official record