Doubts raised over relief promises
From Senior U.N. Producer Liz Neisloss
(CNN) -- As nations rush to make donations in the wake of the tsunami tragedy, concerns are being raised over how much of the promised monetary relief will materialize.
U.N. Secretary Kofi Annan has used the disaster in the Iranian city of Bam as an example of where good intentions come unstuck.
Exactly one year before the tsunami swept across the Indian Ocean, a massive earthquake that resulted in 30,000 fatalities hit Bam.
Thousands were left homeless after the ancient city -- mostly made from mud bricks, clay and straw -- was reduced to rubble.
"It is quite likely that, at the end of the day, we will not receive all of (the tsunami aid)." Annan said.
"I think you all heard about the Bam earthquake in Iran. We got lots of pledges, but we did not receive all the money. And we have similar experiences."
"I will not be surprised if we do not get all the money. That is the history we live with," he said.
Today, it's estimated that more than 100,000 residents of Bam are still living in temporary shelters and tents.
The Iranian government says that of the $1 billion pledged, only $17.5 million has been received.
Of the nearly 200 agencies that responded to the disaster in Bam, only a handful remain, including Relief International.
"There's no doubt had Relief International received more of the pledges that were initially pledged by donors, we would have been able to reach many more families," the agency's Farshad Rastegar said.
The residents of Bam are not alone when it comes to nations breaking promises of financial aid as world attention fades.
According to the United Nations and the World Bank, of the more than $8.5 billion promised to Central American countries after Hurricane Mitch in 1998, less than a third has been received.
And of the $1 billion in aid promised to the war-torn African country of Liberia, only $65 million has been delivered.
"The question is, in the long run, when the horror of the event and the picture is gone, will the people still continue to make available the necessary resources," the German Ambassador to the United Nations, Gunther Pleuger, asks.
