Summit to call for warning system and debt relief

A joint draft statement for tomorrow's global tsunami crisis summit welcomes debt relief for devastated Asian countries and supports…

A joint draft statement for tomorrow's global tsunami crisis summit welcomes debt relief for devastated Asian countries and supports an early warning system.

The document, circulated among the 26 nations and groups attending the Jakarta summit, requests the United Nations mobilise the international community and calls for stronger coordination and cooperation of relief efforts.

The magnitude 9 Indian Ocean earthquake and ensuing tsunami on December 26 has killed 145,968 people throughout the region, with Indonesia accounting for almost two thirds of those deaths, and left hundreds of thousands homeless.

The sheer number of aid groups flooding into Asia, big and small, has caused coordination problems and created bottlenecks.

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World leaders have so far pledged $3.7 billion to help tsunami victims and rebuild the stricken Asian region with Japan, Britain, the United States, Germany and France also calling for a freeze on debt repayments by tsunami-hit nations.

The draft document states "we welcome the initiative of several countries on reducing the external debt burden of the affected countries to augment their national capacity".

But Australia, which pledged A$1 billion ($765 million) over five years on Wednesday to Indonesian tsunami reconstruction and development, has expressed concerns that a debt freeze might not benefit those most in need.

The statement said resources should be urgently mobilised to meet the emergency relief needs of victims; and the affected countries and the importance of of national rehabilitation and reconstruction programmes should be supported and emphasised.

It requests the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank and related international financial institutions provide the necessary funds for the viability and sustainability of rehabilitation and reconstruction programmes.

Initiatives by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to establish regular mechanisms on disaster prevention and mitigation should be supported and a tsunami early warning centre should be established in the Indian Ocean.

Experts say a warning system could have saved many lives. The Pacific Ocean has a tsunami warning centre.

The statement also said public education and awareness and participation in disaster prevention and mitigation should be promoted.