Oxfam warns of tsunami cash delay

Some western government have only rescheduled debt repayment

Western nations need to deliver the money pledged in the aftermath of the tsunami and stop "dragging their feet", Oxfam has warned in a report.

The UN humanitarian appeal funded by governments is still underfunded by 26%, and there are fears that initial promises might not be kept.

The charity is urging governments to deliver money quickly.

In past emergencies, such as the quake that destroyed the city of Bam in Iran, money was promised but not delivered.

'Dragging feet'

Oxfam praised the response of governments in the aftermath of the tsunami as "admirable".

What we want to see at Oxfam is a bolder step here - some cancellation for the poorest countries affected Oxfam

But it warned that rich country governments were "dragging their feet" on trade and debt reforms to help relieve poverty in the long term.

The charity says some rich countries have temporarily suspended debt repayment rather than cancelling it.

"Countries affected by the tsunami are going to have to pay all that money eventually, starting in 12 months," spokesman Max Lawson told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"What we want to see at Oxfam is a bolder step here - some cancellation for the poorest countries affected.

"Otherwise we're in a situation where, as we give some aid, we're taking back the debt repayments, which is giving with one hand and taking back with another."

Bam fund

The charity would want donor governments to assess what level of debt each tsunami-hit country can sustain, and cancel the remainder of the debt, Mr Lawson added.

In other crises in the past, we've seen no more than about half of what's pledged actually arriving over the long term Oxfam

Concerns by Oxfam and other organisations are fuelled by donors' failure to deliver the more than $1bn pledged to help rebuild the city of Bam in Iran, destroyed by a devastating earthquake in December 2003.

Last week, UN humanitarian chief Jan Egeland said commitments worth $717m had already been secured for the tsunami victims from donor countries, which had promised to release the cash within the next six months.

But the amount is still only 73% of the $977m requested by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

US denounced

"In other crises in the past, we've seen no more than about half of what's pledged actually arriving over the long term," Mr Lawson said.

Oxfam was "really concerned" that government pledges should be "new money" and would not be taken away from other crises funds, he added.

"We don't want to see poor people in Africa end up paying for the reconstruction from the terrible devastation in Asia."

The Oxfam paper also denounced the fact that the US had so far failed to scrap tariff barriers on textile and clothing exports from tsunami-hit countries.

A similar pledge, expected to be made by the EU this week, will be closely monitored, the charity said.