Editorial
Welcome support for victims
Think micro to help affected individual
Without our government making any formal appeal for international assistance, pledges for the same are pouring in reflecting humanitarian concern worldwide for victims of cyclone Sidr in Bangladesh. From the UN organisations like UNDP, Unicef, WFP through Red Crescent, Red Cross and other international NGOs to EU and individual donor countries have come in expressions of condolences for the dead and moral and material support for the survivors of cyclone victims.
After having suffered two successive bouts with floods and the onslaught of this hurricane, Bangladesh is today being acknowledged as a frontline victim of the global climatic changes. There is a realisation overseas that since the developed world and a handful of developing countries are largely responsible for global warming, countries like Bangladesh who are at the receiving end of the fallout deserve to be recompensed. We are not asking for charity, but as a matter of right, a hands-on save the world policy from major polluters of environment.
That our people have grown resilient through baptism in nature's fury and our disaster management capability in terms of forecasting and evacuation of coastal people have been noted with appreciation. So the groundswell of support for Bangladesh that is in evidence now and is likely to increase is spontaneous and we are grateful for that. That's all very good. But the real task at hand is coordination among the various sources of international assistance at the field level on the one hand and that between them and the government of Bangladesh on the other.
The assessment of the damages are being done by the donors through their own channels and also by the government of Bangladesh through their own agencies. These need to be broadly synchronised to avoid duplication of assistance or gaps in relief provided. These assessments are primarily done at the macro level, but we would insist on micro-level assessment, because the affected individuals have to be identified and assisted. We must not miss the trees for the wood.
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