Budapest
and non governmental organizations (NGOs) during natural disasters such as the recent
earthquake in Indonesia. The appeal came at a regional conference in Budapest, Hungary
of the UN's International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG), a global
network of more than 80 countries and disaster response organizations.
A large number of natural disasters, centered in Southeast Asia the past few weeks, has
helped to motivate United Nations delegates to agree to improve cooperation between U.N.
rescue teams and non-governmental organizations.
Among those expressing concerns about current inefficiencies is Hungarian official Attila
Tatar, the outgoing chairman for Africa, Europe and the Middle East of the UN's
International Search And Rescue Advisory Group.
Tatar told VOA News that he and other delegates of the Advisory Group are concerned
about what he calls "disaster tourism" where independent groups seem to compete with
UN-led efforts. "I think it's a better way if we move together and everything will be
synchronized. If a country for example wants special technical rescue teams and the non
governmental services have not these teams but rather send water rescue teams, that's a
big problem," he said.
Tatar believes coordination is urgently needed and points to the size of the recent
humanitarian disasters such as the earthquake and tsunami that killed more than 1,000
people in Indonesia and the Pacific islands of Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga this
week.
The United Nations has estimated that around the world last year some 236,000 people
lost their lives in over 300 disasters, while another 200 million people were indirectly
affected. The estimated damage totalled over $180 billion.
Some non-governmental groups have complained about the UN's insistence on waiting for
permission from national authorities before relief is offered, even in autocratic countries
such as Burma, where last year a cyclone left at least 138,000 people dead or missing.
That is a major issue for the incoming chairman of the UN's International Search And
Rescue Advisory Group, Mohamed A.J. Al Ansari, who is from the United Arab Emirates.
Al Ansari admitted to VOA News that autocratic governments seem reluctant to accept
outside help. "So everybody has his own way to ask for help. You can not enforce
somebody to do something. Maybe the way they do it you don't like it, but for them it's
acceptable...," he said.
Despite controversy over the UN's role in disaster relief, African delegates at the Budapest
