Clinton praised for work on 2004 tsunami recovery

dpa German Press Agency
Published: Wednesday November 15, 2006

New York- UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Wednesday praised former US President Bill Clinton for leading efforts to permit Asian countries to recover from the deadly tsunami in December, 2004. Annan said Clinton, the UN special envoy for tsumani recovery, has "led, inspired, goaded, cajoled, and - when necessary - pushed all of us to do what we had to do, 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," Annan said in a statement to a meeting of the Consortium for Tsunami Recovery at UNICEF headquarters chaired by the former president.

Clinton accepted the job last year to help the UN in implementing programmes to rebuild areas devastated by the tsunami that wrecked coastal areas in a dozen Southeast Asian countries. The worst hit were Thailand, Indonesia, Maldives, Sri Lanka and India.

The tsunami, caused by a massive undersea earthquake, killed more than 200,000 people, most of them in Indonesia, and destroyed entire villages in Indonesia's Aceh province.

Clinton, who plans to step down next month, reviewed progress made in the past year. The consortium is composed of the UN, international financial donors, the Red Cross movement and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) involved in the recovery.

© 2006 dpa German Press Agency