Leadership. That's what's needed most now. Co-ordination of the massive relief effort represents probably the greatest challenge to the international community, as it digests the horror and ramifications of the south-east Asia tidal catastrophe.
As thousands of well-meaning groups and organisations apply themselves to the relief of suffering in 11 countries, the absence of a co-ordinating force could ultimately hamper the delivery of essential supplies.
This tragedy represents an ideal opportunity for the international community to prove to the cynics and others that the world does truly care about the vulnerable.
Proper co-ordination is essential - and this means the UN taking a pivotal role.
Unquestionably the UN is a seriously flawed organisation - but it is, for the time being, the only gig in town. It must show by the strength of its actions over the coming days that it has the will and the determination to head the relief and rehabilitation effort. In short, it is being given an oppor-tunity, out of the blue, to redeem its questionable reputation.
It's abundantly clear that the relief effort will not be a success unless governments across the globe mobilise their logistical capacity and bring it to bear on the programme. I see no reason why Kofi Annan should not use his position to call upon the world leaders to rally as never before to this cry for assistance.
Honesty is required also. The aid community will do wonders in the short term - but we are hardly miracle workers. We lack the capacity to deal effectively with a disaster of this scale.
Armies of logisticians are urgently required as much as the equipment that they bring with them. They can be found only in the ranks of the armed forces of the various national armies.
Annan's task should be to use immediately his diplomatic skills to ensure that this vital capacity factor is utilised to the full.
Some of the countries hit by the tidal wave have already deployed sections of their army to assist, but much more can and should be done.
Arguments being presented by some UN officials that we must all respect the sovereignty of a nation etc should be set aside, in my opinion, for the imperative of concern for the sovereignty of the human being. This is a time to focus only on the missing, the survivors and on making life somewhat bearable for those left behind to mourn.
To this end the international community must ensure that no stone is left unturned in the drive to alleviate the suffering of those, all of those, in greatest need.
The international community has failed in the first phase of its response to this disaster; there was no early warning system in place, no strategy. It is time to mobilise all of the necessary resources to minimise further loss of life and get the various affected communities back up and running as soon as possible.
This is an opportunity for the people and governments of the world to work together for the common good, to show that we do care for people in dire need. It is also an opportunity to learn how we might better respond to further natural disasters.
Perhaps the size and a scale of the catastrophe might finally convince people around the globe to think about the weaknesses of the international ability to respond when disaster strikes. Not only must we rise to meet that challenge, we must also learn some very serious lessons from our failure.
For many years GOAL has called for an international rapid response force, a logistical army, to be kept in readiness to respond to disasters as soon as they occur. Perhaps now, the UN and other major bodies will realise that they have not been doing as much as they should for those who need our help the most.
Meanwhile, GOAL has a team of aid workers in Tamil Nadu in southern India, where 7,000 people have died. The team has been involved in distributing medicines, non-food items and providing food for several thous- and families in Nagatattinam.
GOAL has also responded to the plight in Sri Lanka. A team left Dublin Airport yesterday for Colombo, while in the coming days they will be joined by at least a dozen other GOALies (doctors, nurses, engineers etc).
Donations can be made to GOAL at 01 280 9779, PO Box 19, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin, or online at www.goal.ie.
* John O'Shea is chief executive officer of GOAL