Thursday, December 30, 2004
America is "stingy"?
Regarding the tragedy in the countries affected by the earthquake and resulting tsunami ...
Courtesy of FoxNews :
Jan Egeland, the U.N. humanitarian aid chief, has accused America of being cheap with its funding for the catastrophe. "It is beyond me why we are so stingy, really," Egeland said at a Monday press conference. "We were more generous when we were less rich," Egeland told reporters Monday. "Even Christmastime should remind many Western countries at least how rich we have become."
Powell responds ""It will take time to see what the needs of these nations are and how best to help them,". "This is an unprecedented catastrophe." "The United States has given more aid in the last four years than any other nation or combination of nations in the world," Powell told the Associated Press. "This is indeed an international tragedy, and we are going to do everything we can."
A spokesman at U.S. Pacific Command in Hawaii said Monday that in addition to three Navy P-3 Orion surveillance planes sent to Thailand, the military also is loading five or six Air Force C-130 cargo planes with tents, clothing, food and other humanitarian items for delivery to Thailand.
Pacific Command spokesman Lt. Col. William Bigelow (search) said he wasn't authorized to identify the three countries, but other government officials said they were Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand.
Pacific Command also is assembling small assessment teams that will be dispatched to three countries in the region to assess how U.S. military resources can best be applied in those countries.
The U.S. Navy said it sent three P-3 surveillance aircraft from Kadena air base on the Japanese island of Okinawa to Utaphao, Thailand, to conduct survey operations, and possibly help with search-and-rescue efforts.
The Navy said it had no reports of damage to any of its ships or bases in the region.
And James D. Wolfensohn, president of the World Bank (search), said bank teams were discussing potential assistance with the governments of the countries that suffered losses.
On Sunday, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Rodrigo de Rato, said the Fund "stands ready to do its part to assist these nations with appropriate support in their time of need."
Phil's Observations/Comments
What the hell is wrong with the world? And what about my fellow citizens? Our country provides more humanitarian and disaster relief than any other country in the world, and more than the combination of most of the countries in the world. AND that is the governmental assistance only. It doesn't include the private donations by corporations, individuals, or charitable organizations. For Christ's sake folks, we lead the world in providing relief and assistance to our fellow humans.
Take a look at $290 million spent by the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assitance for FY 2003 disasters. And their next FY budget is over $350 million. This is our tax dollars going to foreign countries for disaster relief. This doesn't include corporations, individuals, or charitable organizations like the Red Cross or Salvation Army.
Courtesy of Reuters
NEW YORK: US companies are expected to contribute hundreds of millions of dollars in relief aid to tsunami-hit Asia, but some may be slower to help since the sudden disaster struck during a holiday season, company executives and charity experts say.
Relief organisations have put the death toll at 77,828 in one of the world's worst natural disasters. That number could rise as high as 100,000 and be compounded by hunger and disease along coastlines from Indonesia to India.
The United Nations mobilized its biggest relief operation to help survivors as local authorities and rescuers grapple with shortages of coffins, equipment and medicine.
"We'll see ... hundreds of millions of dollars in (corporate) product donations and cash," said Mark Feldman of Boston-based charity marketing firm Cone Inc, part of Omnicom Group. "The key will be in product donations."
Corporations are thinly staffed during the holiday season and are likely to feel greater pressure from their employees to lend a hand in the coming days.
"The scope of it is just beginning to bubble up," Feldman said. "If we go back to September 11 (attacks), one of the reasons that companies began to respond was because of the outcry from employees."
So far, several dozen companies have announced relief plans, mostly involving cash contributions close to $US100,000 ($NZ142,005.11) and a fund to match employee donations to aid groups such as the American Red Cross or CARE.
"I believe we will surpass the giving of any other emergency we have had," said Marshall Burke, vice president of private support at CARE USA. "You see more corporations who do want to be responsible global citizens."
The American Red Cross has so far received $US18 million from private and corporate donors, spokeswoman Carol Miller said.
Among the larger early donors to tsunami relief are drugmaker Pfizer Inc, which pledged $US10 million in cash and $US25 million in medical supplies; Johnson & Johnson with a donation of $US2 million plus supplies; and JP Morgan Chase with up to $US3 million, including matched employee contributions.
Pfizer's relief decision started as an e-mail chain between local and regional managers, "and as the magnitude of the situation became more apparent we involved most senior management of the company within 12 hours," said Paula Luff, senior director of international philanthropy for Pfizer, which employs more than 4000 people in the affected region.
"We have medicines, we have skilled people available," she said. "No single government or UN agency can do this alone."
Many companies with a global reach are still checking the safety of their employees and facilities abroad as well as assessing the financial impact of Sunday's disaster.
Other complications include assessing the best ways to help, whether by giving cash to relief groups that have a network on the ground or by offering products and services that need special coordination.
"This emergency is still so unsettled and we have staff in place...so asking people to send money allows us the flexibility to procure exactly what's needed," CARE's Burke said.
A Cone study earlier this month showed that 8 in 10 Americans surveyed said companies could win their trust by supporting charitable causes, up 21 percent from 1997.
But some corporations may hesitate to publicize relief aid for fear of criticism that they are just trying to gain attention for their good works.
"Internally we talk about it a great deal. Externally we don't make much noise about it," Steve Pacheco, director of advertising at international delivery service FedEx Corp, said of the company's charity programmes.
Asked about its tsunami relief efforts, FedEx said it would ship 200,000 pounds of medical supplies to the region in conjunction with four aid groups.
Simply put, the United States and its citizens do not need the United Nations to provide relief to those that suffer. We can do it alone or with our friends, like Great Britain & Austrailia. God Bless America!
Courtesy of FoxNews :
Jan Egeland, the U.N. humanitarian aid chief, has accused America of being cheap with its funding for the catastrophe. "It is beyond me why we are so stingy, really," Egeland said at a Monday press conference. "We were more generous when we were less rich," Egeland told reporters Monday. "Even Christmastime should remind many Western countries at least how rich we have become."
Powell responds ""It will take time to see what the needs of these nations are and how best to help them,". "This is an unprecedented catastrophe." "The United States has given more aid in the last four years than any other nation or combination of nations in the world," Powell told the Associated Press. "This is indeed an international tragedy, and we are going to do everything we can."
A spokesman at U.S. Pacific Command in Hawaii said Monday that in addition to three Navy P-3 Orion surveillance planes sent to Thailand, the military also is loading five or six Air Force C-130 cargo planes with tents, clothing, food and other humanitarian items for delivery to Thailand.
Pacific Command spokesman Lt. Col. William Bigelow (search) said he wasn't authorized to identify the three countries, but other government officials said they were Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand.
Pacific Command also is assembling small assessment teams that will be dispatched to three countries in the region to assess how U.S. military resources can best be applied in those countries.
The U.S. Navy said it sent three P-3 surveillance aircraft from Kadena air base on the Japanese island of Okinawa to Utaphao, Thailand, to conduct survey operations, and possibly help with search-and-rescue efforts.
The Navy said it had no reports of damage to any of its ships or bases in the region.
And James D. Wolfensohn, president of the World Bank (search), said bank teams were discussing potential assistance with the governments of the countries that suffered losses.
On Sunday, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Rodrigo de Rato, said the Fund "stands ready to do its part to assist these nations with appropriate support in their time of need."
Phil's Observations/Comments
What the hell is wrong with the world? And what about my fellow citizens? Our country provides more humanitarian and disaster relief than any other country in the world, and more than the combination of most of the countries in the world. AND that is the governmental assistance only. It doesn't include the private donations by corporations, individuals, or charitable organizations. For Christ's sake folks, we lead the world in providing relief and assistance to our fellow humans.
Take a look at $290 million spent by the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assitance for FY 2003 disasters. And their next FY budget is over $350 million. This is our tax dollars going to foreign countries for disaster relief. This doesn't include corporations, individuals, or charitable organizations like the Red Cross or Salvation Army.
Courtesy of Reuters
NEW YORK: US companies are expected to contribute hundreds of millions of dollars in relief aid to tsunami-hit Asia, but some may be slower to help since the sudden disaster struck during a holiday season, company executives and charity experts say.
Relief organisations have put the death toll at 77,828 in one of the world's worst natural disasters. That number could rise as high as 100,000 and be compounded by hunger and disease along coastlines from Indonesia to India.
The United Nations mobilized its biggest relief operation to help survivors as local authorities and rescuers grapple with shortages of coffins, equipment and medicine.
"We'll see ... hundreds of millions of dollars in (corporate) product donations and cash," said Mark Feldman of Boston-based charity marketing firm Cone Inc, part of Omnicom Group. "The key will be in product donations."
Corporations are thinly staffed during the holiday season and are likely to feel greater pressure from their employees to lend a hand in the coming days.
"The scope of it is just beginning to bubble up," Feldman said. "If we go back to September 11 (attacks), one of the reasons that companies began to respond was because of the outcry from employees."
So far, several dozen companies have announced relief plans, mostly involving cash contributions close to $US100,000 ($NZ142,005.11) and a fund to match employee donations to aid groups such as the American Red Cross or CARE.
"I believe we will surpass the giving of any other emergency we have had," said Marshall Burke, vice president of private support at CARE USA. "You see more corporations who do want to be responsible global citizens."
The American Red Cross has so far received $US18 million from private and corporate donors, spokeswoman Carol Miller said.
Among the larger early donors to tsunami relief are drugmaker Pfizer Inc, which pledged $US10 million in cash and $US25 million in medical supplies; Johnson & Johnson with a donation of $US2 million plus supplies; and JP Morgan Chase with up to $US3 million, including matched employee contributions.
Pfizer's relief decision started as an e-mail chain between local and regional managers, "and as the magnitude of the situation became more apparent we involved most senior management of the company within 12 hours," said Paula Luff, senior director of international philanthropy for Pfizer, which employs more than 4000 people in the affected region.
"We have medicines, we have skilled people available," she said. "No single government or UN agency can do this alone."
Many companies with a global reach are still checking the safety of their employees and facilities abroad as well as assessing the financial impact of Sunday's disaster.
Other complications include assessing the best ways to help, whether by giving cash to relief groups that have a network on the ground or by offering products and services that need special coordination.
"This emergency is still so unsettled and we have staff in place...so asking people to send money allows us the flexibility to procure exactly what's needed," CARE's Burke said.
A Cone study earlier this month showed that 8 in 10 Americans surveyed said companies could win their trust by supporting charitable causes, up 21 percent from 1997.
But some corporations may hesitate to publicize relief aid for fear of criticism that they are just trying to gain attention for their good works.
"Internally we talk about it a great deal. Externally we don't make much noise about it," Steve Pacheco, director of advertising at international delivery service FedEx Corp, said of the company's charity programmes.
Asked about its tsunami relief efforts, FedEx said it would ship 200,000 pounds of medical supplies to the region in conjunction with four aid groups.
Simply put, the United States and its citizens do not need the United Nations to provide relief to those that suffer. We can do it alone or with our friends, like Great Britain & Austrailia. God Bless America!
Kicknit 12/30/2004