Tsunami carried lessons to world on preparedness

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NEW YORK -- The eight-second earthquake that created the catastrophic Indian Ocean tsunami one year ago today also produced an unexpected silver lining: The world is more focused on preparing for massive disasters and fine-tuning the emergency response.

The tsunami slammed into the coastlines of 13 countries, killing more than 230,000 and destroying the livelihoods of millions more.

Since then, the United Nations and other aid agencies say they have learned valuable lessons on how to be more effective in the event of such huge need.

Officials with the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) say they adapted techniques that made them more responsive everywhere from the hurricane-battered Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico to the quake-sloughed mountains of Kashmir.

"The tsunami did provoke an extraordinary response and got us thinking of new measures," Mark Bowden, OCHA's head of policy planning, said in an interview with The Washington Times.

The impact of the tsunami has been felt in global calls for early-warning systems, improved procurement practices, more effective fundraising, better relations with host countries, closer coordination between agencies and private charities, and the use of high-octane "special envoys" to cajole governments into turning their pledges into cash.

Former President Bill Clinton is doing such a good job as the U.N. special envoy on the disaster that the government of Pakistan insisted on another former American president, George Bush, to keep the pressure on donors to Pakistan's own earthquake-relief effort.

With winter approaching, Mr. Bush will work to turn pledges into cash, among other tasks.

Keeping track of incoming monetary donations, disbursements to agencies and spending on the ground is a vexing task in large-scale relief efforts, where accounting often is seen as secondary to providing immediate assistance.

A sophisticated financial-tracking system was created and installed to reassure donors that their money wouldn't be misused.