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Rich nations 'failed' on quake aid
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HOW TO HELPSPECIAL REPORTQUICKVOTEYOUR E-MAIL ALERTSGENEVA, Switzerland -- Many rich countries have failed to give enough to the U.N. appeal to help the victims of the earthquake which devastated Pakistan earlier this month, according to Oxfam. The charity says some countries have not responded generously enough and must announce new donations at a donor conference in Geneva on Wednesday. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan invited ministers to attend the conference in Switzerland. He warned more death could sweep the region if extra aid was not received soon. The earthquake left some 79,000 people dead and an estimated 3.3 million homeless. With temperatures set to drop further as snow sets in over the coming weeks, aid agencies say the need for shelter and medical supplies is increasingly desperate. Bettina Luescher, of the World Food Programme, told CNN that help for quake victims was a matter of life and earth. She described the aid effort as "probably the most complicated logistical operation that the humanitarian community has faced in its history." "Our feeling is that people haven't realized yet how serious the situation really is. People will die, they will die in the next few weeks if there are not more helicopters coming in," she said. "You need the money to buy the food and to get the food into those locations. We need to reposition our food for the coming winter within the next five weeks or so." Research for Oxfam revealed that the U.N. appeal for $312 million in aid is more than two-thirds away from its target, with only $90 million pledged so far. Individual contributions were gauged according to the relative size of a nation's economy as a proportion of the total from major industrialized countries. Only four countries -- Sweden, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Denmark -- have given more than their fair share, the charity said. The U.S., Italian, German and Japanese governments have all given less than one-fifth of their share, and governments in Belgium, France, Austria, Finland, Greece, Spain and Portugal have so far contributed nothing at all. Oxfam said that although some of these countries might have given resources outside the U.N.'s fund it was vital to ensure that the organization's appeal was also met. Phil Bloomer, the charity's policy director, said: "Governments are once again failing to respond to an emergency appeal. The logistical nightmare in Pakistan is bad enough without having to worry about funding shortfalls as well. "Governments meeting in Geneva today must put their hands in their pockets and pay their fair share. The public will be shocked that so many rich governments have given so little." The appeal following the Boxing Day tsunami was 80 per cent fulfilled within 10 days but the low amounts pledged for this latest disaster were not unusual, Oxfam said. A black hole of $1.3 billion in emergency program occurred in 2004 after donor governments failed to give enough to the U.N.'s appeals, and similar figures were also recorded in 2003. Oxfam is calling for the creation of a global emergency fund that will plug the gaps and be in a position to deliver aid immediately. Two and a half weeks after the earthquake struck, many mountain communities in the remotest areas are still out of reach. Copyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report. 
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